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“Inside Commodore's 


COMMODORE Volume 2, Number 4 


$4.95 U.S. 


THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR COMMODORE 64 & 128 USERS 


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ENTERTAINMENT | PRODUCTIVITY 


10 Game Grab Baa $9.95 Plundered Hearts $12.97 1750 Super Clone $99.95 Geos 128 v2 $44.97 
Defender of the Crown $9.97 Pool of Radiance 14,97 Basic Compiler 64 $12.97 Graphic Label Wizard $14.97 
Destroyer $9.97 Portal $14.97 Big Blue Reader $29.97 Graphics Basic $9.97 
Double Dragon 2 $9.97 Questron 2 $9.97 B/W Prog Tools $14.97 Home Designer 128 $24.97 
Heavy Metal $12.97 Rampage $7.97 Bob's Term Pro 64 $12.97 Mach 128 Cart $24.97 
Heros of the Lance $14.97 Realms of Darkness $12.97 B/W Power C $9.97 Manager, The $12.97 
Impossible Mission 2 $9.97 Roadwars $7.97 B/W Turbo Cartridge $14.97 Maverick v5 $24.95 
Keys to Maramon $9.97 Sidearms $7.97 C128 Graphics Bundle $29.97 Model Diet $9.97 
Mean Streets $9.97 Steel Thunder $9.97 Christmas Model Kit $9.97 Movie Maker $9.97 
Monopoly $9.97 Strip Poker $14.97 Creative Writer $12.97 Newsroom $14.97 
Ms Pacman $9.97 Trump Castle Casino $12.97 CSM Protection Man 1 $14.97 On Line Help $9.97 
Ogre $9.97 Wheel Fortune 1-2-3 $9.97 CSM Protection Man 2 $19.97 Outrageous Pages $14.97 
Pacman $9.97 Zork 1-2-3 $9.97 Data Manager 2 $14.97 Paperclip 364/128 $19.97 
Designer's Pencil $9.97 PFS File & Report $19.97 
SHORTS & Desk Manager $9.97 Postcards $14.97 
SPORTS a FLIG GrlT Drive Align 1541/71 $12.97 Printmaster Plus $19.97 
Easy Working Tri Pak $9.97 Superbase 64 $19.97 
4th & Inches $7.97 Sporting News Baseball $9.97 Fast Load Cart $19.97 Superscript 64/128 $14.97 
America’s Cup Sailing $7.97 Star Rank Boxing $7.97 Fleet System 3 (128) $14.97 Swiftcalc w/Sideways $14.97 
Champshp Baseball $7.97 Tenth Frame $9.97 Geos 64 v2 $39.97 Term Paper Writer 128 $12.97 
Dave Winfield Batter Up $9.97 Tony LaRussa Baseball $7.97 
Fast Break $7.97 Tournament Tennis $7.97 
Football/Sublogic $9.97 WWF Wrestling $7.97 EDUCATIONAL 
Int Hockey $7.97 Acrojet $9.97 
Jack Nicklaus Golf $9.97 Apache Strike $7.97 Early Learning Friends $9.97 Snoopy Writer $9.97 
Jordan vs Bird $7.97 F-14 Tomcat $9.97 European Nations & Loc $9.97 Spell It $12.97 
Leaderboard Golf $9.97 F-15 Strike Eagle $12.97 Keys to Typing $9.97 Spellicopter $9.97 
Pro Football Facts $9.97 F-19 Stealth Fighter $12.97 Kindercomp (cart) $9.97 Stickybear ABCs $9.97 
Pro Soccer $7.97 Jet $14.97 Lovejoy'’s SAT $12.97 Stickybear Math $9.97 
Pure Stat Baseball $9.97 Jet Combat Sim $7.97 Memory Manor Cart $9.97 Stickybear Numbers $9.97 
Rick Davis Soccer $7.97 Top Gunner $9.97 Magic Spells $9.97 Typing Tutor 4 $9.97 
Reader Rabbit $9.97 Word Attack $9.97 
Snoopy Sky Scramble $9.97 Word Spinner $9.97 


CCESSORIES 


C-128RGB Cable $17.95 Floppy Disk Notcher $6.95 
C-64 Color Mon Cable $8.95 Dust Covers - specify $7.95 
Computer Hand 2 $6.95 Capt Grant Joystick $9.95 
Convert A Com $24.95 Ergostick Joystick $16.95 
Disk Bank 10/3.5" $2.95 CBM 1200 Baud $9.95 
Disk Bank 10/5.25° $2.95 Aprotek 2400 Baud $49.95 
Disk Bank 100/3.5" $12.95 13851 Smart Mouse $44.95 
Disk Bank 100/5.25" $12.95 MW 350 Interface $44.95 


Disk Bank 70/5.25" $7.95 64 Power Supplies $34.95 


Software Support Int. 
Disk Mailers $0.39 128 Power Supplies $49.95 SONWARE 9700 N.E. ri 7 ‘esen Rd 
Orive Cleaners $6.95 Printer Ribbons CALL meer’ aan 


Serial Cable 6ft $8.95 Userport Expander $24.95 Suite A-10 


Serial Cable 10 ft pa Video Ram Upgrade $49.95 Vancouver, Wa 98661 
Drive Power Cable $7.95 3.5" 10 cnt.Floppy $7.95 apna (360) 695-1393 
User Port Cable $15.95 5.25" 10 cnt.Floppy $3.95 


Items Listed Above Do Not Include Shipping. U.S 48 States - Add $5.50 
per order, Alaska, Hawaii & Canada - add $5.50 for the first piece and 
$1.00 per each additional piece per shipment. Second Day Air shipping 
is available. Call for shipping charges. Call Or Write For Your Free c- 
64/128 Catalog Listing HUNDREDS Of Commodore Products And 
Special Offers For Your Computer. Our Order Takers Are On Duty 6:00 
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Major Credit Cards Accepted. 


CALL TOLL FREE TODAY! 1I-800-35§6-1 179 


C QO N 


ISSUE 9 ° 


COMMODORE 


WORLD 


THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR COMMODORE 64 & 128 USERS 


GENERAL MANAGER 
Charles R. Christianson 
5 
Epiror 
Doug Cotton 
5 
Assistant Epitor 
Jenifer Esile 
¢ 
ADVERTISING SALES 
Charles A. Christianson 
(413) 525-0023 
5 
PHOTOGRAPHY 
Wayne Wrubel 
> 
Grapnic Arts 
Doug Cotton 
Jenifer Esile 
+4 
Etectronic Pre-Press & PrintiNG 
Mansir/Holden, Inc, 
ca 
Cover Design by Doug Cotton 


Commodore" and the respective Commodore product names 
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Escom GmbH. 
Commodore World is in no way affiliated with Escom GmbH,, 
owner of the Commodore logo and technology. Commodore 
World is published 8 times annually by Creative Micro Designs, 
Inc,, 15 Benton Drive, East Longmeadow MA 01028-0646. 
Second-Class Postage Paid at East Longmeadow MA, Annual 
subscription rate is US$29.95 for U.S. addresses, US$35.95 
for Canada or Mexico, USS45.95 for all EC Countries, and 
US$57.95 to all other addresses worldwide. All subscription 
payments must be provided in U.S. Dollars, Mail subscriptions 
to CW Subscriptions, c/o Creative Micro Designs, Inc., P.O. 
Box 646, East Longmeadow MA 01028-0646, 


Entire contents copyright © 1995 by Creative Micro 
Designs, Inc., unless otherwise noted. No part of this 
Publication may be printed or otherwise reproduced by any 
means without prior written consent from the publisher, All 
programs published in this publication are for the personal use 
of the reader, and may not be copied or in any way distributed 
Allrights reserved, Programming examples and routines in this 
issue which are presented for educational purposes may be 
used in the creation of programs by the purchaser of this of this 
magazine, provided credit for the routines is clearly presented 
in either the program documentation, or the program itself 
Creative Micro Designs, Inc., assumes no responsibility for 
errors or omissions in editorial, program listings or advertising 
content. Creative Micro Designs, Inc. assumes no liability for 
advertisers claims or reliability 


POSTMASTER: Send address changes to; CW Address 
Changes, c/o Creative Micro Designs, Inc., P.O, Box 646, East 
Longmeadow MA 01028-0646 


VOLUME 2 


NUMBER 4 . 


FEATURES 


6 
18 
22 
36 


Speciat Report: AMIGA TECHNOLOGIES FORECAST by Jason Compton 
What's in store for Commodore and Amiga now that Escom is control? 
UNDERSTANDING SPREADSHEETS by David Pankhurst 

Learn what spreadsheets can do for you! 

SPREADSHEETS BY THE NUMBERS by Sherry Freedline 

An in-depth look at four current spreadsheet programs and their features. 


Harpware: COLLECTIBLES by Jim Brain 
A collector's comments on the Commodore 264 Series. 


REVIEWS 


28 


Sortware: CKit 94 by Gaelyne R. Moranec 

Mad Man's Backup and Compression Kit. 

KARMA by Jim Butterfield 

Review of the newest macro assembler for the Commodore 128. 
Ganes: MINIVIEWS by Sherry Freedline 

Blood Money, Championship Baseball and Monday Night Football. 


New Games by Sherry Freedline and Steve Vander Ark 
Three new titles: Lions of the Universe, Super Pogo Stick, & Riddles and Stones. 


COLUMNS 


14 
16 


Just For Starters by Steve Vander Ark 

Know your ports and try some simple BASIC programming. 
ForeiGn EXCHANGE by Joseph Gaudl 

The latest goings-on in the European Commodore market. 
GRAPHIC INTERPRETATION by Steve Vander Ark 

A few helpful hints on working with geoPublish, 
GEOPROGRAMMIST by Maurice Randall 

Getting around in memory under GEOS takes knowing the system. 
Basic INSTINCTS by Gene Barker 

Part 2 of a series on writing BASIC input subroutines. 
PERIPHERAL VISION by Jim Butterfield 

Part 2 of a series on Relative file programming. 

Carrier DETECT by Gaelyne R, Moranec 

Secrets to modeming with the right long distance carrier for you. 
Over THE EoGe by Harold Stevens, Jr. 

Hooked on modems? You're not alone! 


DEPARTMENTS 
2 From tHe Eviror 10 User Group Connection 
4 Backtatk 12 Top Tips 
7 Commooore Trivia 56 Cuassiriecd Avs 
& ON THe Horizon 56 Apvertiser’s INDEX 


See Our 


CHK-LIST 


Utility 
On Page 45 


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1995 


COMMODORE WORLD 


s the warm rays of 
summer sun shine 
down on the world 
outside, and as 
many of you enjoy 
your vacations, the 
staff here at CW 
have been busy 
cooking up another hot issue. This time, however, 
we've had some extra help. We're pleased to welcome 
Jenifer Esile to ourstaff, and we're certain 
that with this new addition, we'll be 
able to the improve the quality of 
Commodore World while meeting the 
rigorous schedule that keeps your issues 
showing up at regular pace. 

As most of you are aware, we've been 
placing all new subscribers and re 
subscribers into our Subscription 
Sweepstakes. Sadly, all goodthings must 
come to an end, and the drawing is now closed. The 
good news, however, is that thirty-two of our lucky 
subscribers will find their subscription number tucked 
away in the pages of this issue. Since our database guru 
has randomly generated only the subscriber numbers 
directly from our database, even we didn’t know the 
names of the winners until looking them up after they 
were drawn. 

So, how can you find out if you're one of the lucky 
winners? Take a peek at the winner's circle found 
within the pages of this issue and... HEY! HOLD ON! 
The least you could do is finish reading the rest of my 
editorial before you go ripping through the pages 
looking for those numbers! 


DEAD COMPUTERS 
In a recent phone conversation with Jeff Jones of 
Loadstar, | was saddened to hear that many of the users 
who opted not to renew their Loadstar subscription 
cited that they did not do so because their computer no 
longer worked, and they didn’t know where to get it 
repaired. It’s understandable that we lose numbers 
to other platforms for various reasons, but there are 
several reputable mail-order repair facilities left, 
and no doubt even more local ones we 
don’t know about. You will 
probably hear more about 
this from JeffJones himself, 
but I think we should all help 
him in collecting and 
disseminating information on 
any and all repair facilities left. 
To that end, if you know ofany 
companies that repair 
Commodore Computers, jot 
down the name, address, and 
phone number, and send_ the 
information to Jeff at Loadstar. If you don't 
have Loadstar’s address, send the info to my 
attention here at Commodore World, and I'll 

be happy to pass it along to Jeff. 


Doug Cotton 
Editor 


Issue 9 


Folcroft East Business Park 


/ Info 610-586-5701 
Tech 610-586-5704 
FAX 610-586-5706 


313 Henderson Dr 


She te 


Orders 800-932-6442 


e SPECIAL OFFER ¢ Receive either Master Type Typing cartridge or Jack Attack 
cartridge for only $2.00 additional with any order - Originally valued at $49.00 


Sharon Hill, PA 19079 


Commodore 


Software Hut ise; 


ericure: ‘Mon- Fri 9 to 6 
Sat 10 to 4 - Eastern 


Bee 


1541 -2 Drives 


These are completely NEW & 
boxed by Commodore from their 
latest production run. Includes all 
Cabling, Manuals, and Disks. 
Hurry as supplies are limited. 


$89.95 


i DA ES at anti al 


| CBM Test Kit 


128 Diagnostic Cart. w/Manual $24.95 
64 Dead Test Cart. w/Manual 29.95 


| Last Chance 


Parts 


We have just acquired the last batch 
of Commodore factory repair parts 
and assemblies. All parts have a 60 
Day Warranty through Software Hut. 
Hurry as supplies are limited. 


CBM Part? Description Price 
1540002-01 1541 Internal P.S, $12.95 
1540048-01 1541 PCBAssmALPS 19.95 
1540048-03 1541 PCBAssmNEWT 19.95 
250448-01 PCB Assm 1541B 19.95 
250471-01 PCB Assm 1581 22.95 
250735-02 Keyboard 128D 22.95 
250772-01 Power Supply 1571 18.95 
251053-10 Power Supply 64/64C 22.95 
310379-02 PCB Assm 128 80.00 
310420-01 PCB Assm 1571 22.95 
318264-01 Commodore Joystick 5.95 


326166-04 Keyboard 64 14,95 


390205-01 Heavy Duty 64/64C P.S. 32.95 
516402-02 64 Computer, ReCon. 109.95 
601210-66 MPS 1200 Printhead 24.95 
128 Motherboard - Complete $64.95 
128D Motherboard - Complete 64.95 
64C Motherboard - Complete $4.95 
C128 Power Supply - External 39.95 
C128D Power Supply - Internal 24.95 
1541-2 or 1581 Power Supply 19.95 


Commodore Manuals 
User Manual 128 Computer $9.9: 


User Manual 1700/1750 RAM Hr 
User Manual 1351 Mouse 5.95 
User Manual 1764 RAM 6.95 
Service Manual 1581 Drive 19.95 
Service Manual MPS 1000 Printer 19.95 
User Manual 1802 Monitor 5.95 
User Manual MPS 1250 Printer 7.95 
Intro Manual 1280 4.95 
User Manual 2002 Monitor 7.95 
User Manual 64C 6.95 
User Manual 801 Printer 7,95 
User Manual 802 Printer 7.95 
User Manual 1702 Monitor 7.95 


Volume 2, Number 4 


Games & Closeouts. 


Airborne Ranger 

Bad Blood “ 4 
Below the Root 10.00 
Big Boggle 14.00 
Blackjack Academy 12.95 
Chomp 12.95 
Deja Vu 9.00 
Demolition Mission - Space Racer 6.00 
Dolphin's Rune 5.00 
Felony! 9.00 
Gateway to the Savage Frontier 14.00 
Impossible Mission 2 8.95 
Jack Attack cartridge 5.00 
Jeopardy 1, 2, Jr, Sports (Specity) 10.00 
Learning Bridge Made Easy 9.00 
Moonmist 12.00 
Navy Seals 12.95 
PathWords 9.00 
Plundered Hearts 12.00 
President is Missing 9.95 
Rambo 2 6.00 
Risk 17.00 
Secrets of the Silver Blades 14.00 
Shoot’em Up Construction Kit 12.00 
Stationfall 12.00 
Swiss Family Robinson 10.00 
Tass Times in Tone Town 9.00 
Test Pilot Bundle (ATF, Crazy Cars, 
Tomahawk, Harrier, Infiltrator 2) 15,00 
Three Stooges 12.95 
Tony LaRussa Baseball 12.00 
Tony LaRussa Teams (Specity) 7.00 
View to a Kill 9.00 
Weird Oreams 11,00 
Wheel of Fortune 1,2,Gold,Jr (Specity) 10.00 
Where (Specify) Is Carmen S. 0.7 27.00 
Who Framed Roger Rabbit 22.00 
World Games 12.00 
Wrath of the Demon 22.00 


/ Peripherals Ri 
Accessories 


1670 Modem - 1200 Baud, New, 
Boxed. Super Special Price, while 
supplies last - $19.95 


1660 Modem - 300 Baud - $9.95 
1351 Mouse - New, unboxed -$32.95 


Micro R&D Printer Interface - For non- 
CBM parallel printers, supports graphics 
$49.95 


Suncom Icontroller - Limited supply of 
this joystick/mouse classic - $29.95 


5 or 8 pin Composite Cable $14.95 
C128 to Magnavox/1084 (Specity) 14.95 
Computer/Disk Drive Cable-6f, 12.95 
Surge Protector w/EMI (6 Outlet) 14.00 
1084S Monitor Call 
1802 Monitor by Commodore 149.95 


We stock Printer Ribbons for: 
MPS 801, 802, 803.1525, 1526, 1000, 
1200, 1250 - $7.00 each 
Specity your printer when ordering 


C64 Trade-In 
Program 
Is your C64 or 64C broken? 


Can't find any place to repair it? We 
have, refurbished by Commodore, C64 
and 64C computers available. They 
include a Full New 90 Day Warranty. 
Simply send us your computer (no 
power supply or cabling needed) with a 
Check, Money Order, or your Credit Card 
number for $69.00, plus $10.00 
shipping, and we will send you a newly 
returbished computer upon receival of 
your broken unit. 


1571 Drives are totally NEW units, with all 
Cabling, a comprehensive manual, and a full 
90 Day Warranty. Bulk packed in plain 
boxes. Pertect for your 128 or 128D 
computer. Limited supply! 


$129.95 


Se eae 


Commodore 
1802 Monitor 


We have just received a small 
batch of this Color-Composite 
monitor for C64 users. Complete 
with cable. Limited supply! 


$139.95 
Productivity . 

Bank Street Writer 

Big Blue Reader 4 35.00 
Data Manager 2 (64) 22.95 
Dome Home Accounting 64.95 
GEOS 64 v2.0 42.95 
GEOS 128 v2.0 45.00 


Geo File 64 or Geo Calc 64 (Specify) 45.00 
Geo File 128 or Geo Calc 128 (Specity)52.95 


Geo Programmer Call 
Geo Publish 64 45.00 
Jane 128 44.95 
Master Type 8.00 
Merlin 128 45.00 


News Maker 128 10.00 
Personal Choice Coll. (Write File Plan) 29.95 


PrintShop 36.95 
SwittCalc (64) 22.95 
Super 81 Utilities 64-128 (Specify) 14.00 
Superbase 64 v3.01 26.95 
WordWriter 6 34,95 


Software Hut 
1581Drive 
EXCLUSIVE 


A BRAND NEW production run of 1581s, by 
Commodore, has been made available to 
Software Hut EXCLUSIVELY! These drives 
come with Commodore's full 90 Day 
Warranty. The drives are complete with all 
Cabling & Software, & bulk-packed in plain 
boxes. Call for special quantity pricing for 
Dealers and Users Groups. We offer these 
Grives al a SUPER Low Price of: 


$89.95 


These are the last batch left from 
CBM. Refurbished & with a 90 
day Warranty. With Keyboard & 
Power Cable. Manuals not 
Included. Perfect as a second 
unit. 


$179.95 


| Our Policies 


No waiting for your orders to ship. 
Orders in by 2PM go out the same day. 
Second Day & Overnight shipping is 
available. International orders are 
Shipped by Air Parcel Post, UPS or DHL. 
Domestic orders are shipped UPS. 
+All orders are subject to credit card 
verification + 
+All prices subject to change « 


‘SA 
[tsresoss—| 
Hi 
ee 
0 


Supplies are limited and on a first-come 
first-serve basis. We accept Visa, Master 
Card, and Discover. We also ship COD, 
accepting Cash, Certified Check, or 
Money Order. Software and accessories 
shipping ts $6.00. Hardware shipping is 
$6.00 for small items. Call for larger 
items (ie. Computers). COD add $5.00. 
Minimum COD order Is $50.00. Canadian, 
APO, & International orders are welcome. 
We will Dill only for actual shipping 
charges & insurance at time of order. 
15% re-stocking fee on all returns not 
exchanged. Shipping is NOT refundable. 


© Copyright 1995, tonyAntonuccio gfx. Al Rights Reserved 


COMMODORE WORLD 


G@ACKTALK 


LET TERS AND QUESTIONS FROM OUR READERS 


Sequential File Copies 

Tuse a C128 and my main use of disk drives are 
two 1581's with two 1571 drives that I can switch 
in and out as required. Most of the programs | 
use, other than word processors, | write myselfin 
BASIC, and ifneeded for speed I compile them. 

Recently, my friend and I created 293 RECIPE 
sequential files and saved them to a 1581 disk. 
The first program on the disk isa BASIC program 
file that will list the names of the Recipe file 
names to the screen for selection to view and 
print to a printer. The second program on the 
disk is another basic program that will access all 
of the seq files on the disk, get their title and print 
on my printer a cross reference list of the file 
names as related to the title of the recipe. It will 
also scratch and save the list back to disk as a 
sequential file for access, which is the third file on 
the disk. 

Irecently wanted to copy a few of these files to 
another disk, selected at random. So, | dug out 
my collection of file copiers and began. First, | 
tried DOS SHELL but learned that does not work 
on 1581 drives, Next, I tried FAST HACK’EM and 
found it will list for selection the first 70 files only! 
Even then, the program had trouble making file 
copies. 

So, I grabbed my SUPER 81 UTILITIES disk by 
Free Spirit Software, Inc. I booted the disk and 
selected FILE COPY from th» 1aain menu and 
proceeded to copy the files. The program loaded 
the file names from the source disk, but I found it 
would load only 160 seq filenames, no more! The 
manual for SUPER 81 UTILITIES said that 50 
files at a time could be selected for copy. No way! 
I could only select 14 files for copying and when 
I tried to copy those, my computer immediately 
locked up and | had to re-boot the program. 

Finally, after many tries, I was able to copy as 
manyas8seqfilesin one pass. Then I wasreturned 
tothe main menuandhadtore-insert the program 


COMMODORE WORLD 


disk to again select the FILE COPY utility. 
Bummer! There are many other problems that | 
have discovered while using SUPER 81 
UTILITIES, but that’s a different story. 

Now I was getting desperate. | should have 
copied the whole disk and then deleted the 
programs that I did not want. But hey, that’s not 
the way it should work. I then tried UNI-COPY 
which came on the DEMO/UTILITIES disk 
supplied with my purchase of my two 1581 disk 
drives. [ran the BASIC program and found that is 
will only load 232 field names for copy selection. 
I tried changing the DIM statements in the 
program but to no avail. UNI-COPY program 
hadan ML portion attached to the end of it which 
is not visible when you list it. It will also not run 
ifyouattempt changingit, since it is RAM memory 
sensitive. 

Then | tried FILECOPY from the same 
Commodore disk, and found that! hadtoincrease 
the values in the DIM statement DIM 
N$(200),T$(200),CE(200) to (297) before all field 
could beaccessedon my Recipe disk. The program 
is a bit slow in loading the field names, but it can 
bemodifiedtouseand MLfilenameloaderroutine 
for increased speed. This I have done, and the 
program runs just great! The reason I was able to 
modify FILECOPY, is because it is written in 
BASIC and BLOAD’s an ML program from the 
disk into the RS-232 input buffer (C128). This 
means that it is not sensitive to RAM memory as 
UNI-COPY is. 

You see, | don't know ML and I don’t know 
Assembly Language programming, but I now 
have a decent 1581 SEQ FILE copy program; one 
that will copy 296 files in one pass! The point 
being, many BASIC programs that are Freeware 
or Shareware are much better than that of “store- 
bought” ML mint. Fred Bowan, you have written 
some pretty good programs! Thanks. 

- Larry Pankey 


Asyou ve indicated, there seem to bea lot of pitfalls to 
the array of copiers out there. CMD found this out as 
well when we first created our HD Series hard drives 


for the C64 and 128, Initially, we shipped UNI- 


COPY with these drives, but we knew that this could 
only work as a stop-gap until something better could 
be done. 

Eventually, we created FCOPY (and later, 
FCOPY +), ourown file-copier for the C64/128, While 
FCOPY lacks some of the speed attributes of other 
commercial copiers, it does well enough on JiffyDOS 
equipped drives, The benefit is that using stock 
methods of drive access made the copier compatible 
with a much wider range of devices than most 
commercial copiers. Furthermore, FCOPY can handle 
all file types, including REL files. 

And because FCOPY was initially designed for 
users of our hard drives, we used a ‘dynamic’ table to 
store filenames tobe copied. The initial versionallowed 
up to 1500 files to be selected for copying. This has 
been reduced slightly in newer versions due to the 
addition of other options, but is still well into the 
hundreds, FCOPY+ is available as part of CMD 
UTILITIES from CMD. 

Another solution to copying a lot of files is built 
right into Jiffy DOS (for users who have it). Since that 
copier uses the “BASIC” director listing for marking 


files, you can copy as many files as a loaded directory 


will allow you to have. Again, it isn't as fast as some 
commercial copiers, but it’s a lot better than some of 
the “shareware” types. 


%) 


Commodore World reserves the right to edit 
letters published in this column for length, 
spelling, and clarity. If you have questions 


or comments, write to: CW Backtalk, c/o 
Creative Micro Designs, Inc., P.O. Box 646, 
East Longmeadow MA 01028. 


Issue 9 


The return of the HD-20 was so 
successful that we’ve sold out... 


A lot of Commodore users saw the value in our 
HD-20 offer, and they jumped on it. We're willing 
to bet that right about now, they're happy: they 
did. But if you're one of the users who missed that 
great deal, we’ve put 

together another 

outstanding HD 

bargain that 

you won't 


want to miss. You still get the speed, the 
convenience, the compatibility, and the power. 
And you get the same reliability and support that 
all those new HD-20 owners got. But you get 
even more than that—20 Megabytes more as a 
matter of fact. Because now you can buy aCMD | 
HD-40 for only $30 more. That's right. Twice the 
capacity for only 10 percent more. But you'd 
better hurry—this deal can’t last forever! 


The Power of a CMD HD-40. 


$329 


To Order Yours, Call 1-800-638-3263. 


Chad See full CMD advertisement elsewhere in this issue for shipping prices. 
Creative Micro Designs, Inc. 


FOR THE BEST SELECTION OF 
NEW AND REFURBISHED COMMODORE EQUIPMENT 
CALL 1-800-638-3263 


COMPUTERS 


pre-installed on 
every computer & 
disk drive! 


C64 or C64¢c (refurbished) 
C128 (refurbished) 
C128-D (refurbished) 


589.00 
*149.00 
5239.00 


MONITORS 


1802 (refurbished) 
80-column monitors 
DISK DRIVES 
1541 (NEWS 

1541 (refurbished) 
1541-II (refurbished) 
1571 (refurbished) 


eo: «+ ime 
if) 20 pay 
, WARRANTY 


on new items, 30 
days on used, 


$129.00 
CALL 


5119.00 

$75.00 
°109.00 
$139.00 


COMPLETE SYSTEMS 


C64/1541 (refurbished) 
C64/1541/1802 (refurbished) 


5149.00 
5269.00 


Prices do not include shipping charges, and are 
subject to change without notice. All items 
subject to availability, call before ordering. 


Creative Micro Designs, Inc. 


Volume 2, Number 4 


COMMODORE WORLD 


The Amiga Technologies Weather Forecast 
Tracking the Storm of the Commodore 64 and Amiga 


by, Jason Compton, Editor of Amiga Report 


The weather forecast from Bensheim, Germany, 
home of the newly formed AmigaTechnologies, 
goes something like this these days: Mostly cloudy 
with occasional news showers. 

The Commodore assets were acquired in late- 
April by Escom AG. At first, Escom and their 
spin-off Amiga Technologies flooded the wires 
with press releases and promises for the renewed 
production of the Commodore 64 and Amiga 
lines of computers. But the 64 remains a sleeping 
beast and newly manufactured Amigas have not 
made it to the starting gate yet. 

The weather looks something like this: On May 
30th, Amiga Technologies and Escom helda press 
conference in Frankfurt, Germany. With roughly 
adozen speakers on the docket, it was a chance to 
lay a foundation for the new company and share 
its initiatives. Virtually all of the speakers 
exclusively addressed the Amiga, commenting 
on their involvement with its past and looking 
ahead to its future. They laid out bold marketing 
strategies and unveiledimmediate improvements 
fortheline, includinga potential processor upgrade 
for the low-cost A1200, Escom brass announced 
plans for strategic alliances with multimedia 
industry leaders, with a top Scala executive on hand 
to back them up as living proof. 

Then the wires went dead. When pressed for 
more information, new developments, more 
licensing news, solid policy decisions, Amiga 
Technologies only asked for patience and 
understanding as they tried to get their company 
up and running. It was Dan Stets of the 
Philadelphia Inquirer, not Amiga Technologies, 
that had the next news to offer. It seemed that the 
initial plans to have manufacture of the Amiga 
and 64 done in China had fallen through, and 
Amigas would now be produced in Scotland and 
Philadelphia. The explanation for the change was 
the inability of Tianjin Family-Issued Multimedia 
Corp, the contracted Chinese manufacturer, to 
retool its facilities in an acceptable length of time 
for the projected fall 95 reintroduction. 

Soon after, the rain started falling again. 
Creative Equipment International, the Amiga 
distributor whose bid for the Commodore assets 
fell short of the goal, announced that it had struck 
a deal with Amiga Technologies through their 
North American representative, Ed Goff. Goff, a 
former Commodore vice-president and legal 
counsel, provided CEI with an initial product line 


COMMODORE WORLD 


and street prices: $3,500 for an Amiga 4000T 
with 6 megs of RAM, 540 megs of hard drive 
space, and a Motorola 68040 processor — at 25 
megahertz. While the 4000T was only sold in 
limited quantities by Commodore before its 
demise, it clearly represented a price increase for 
an unchanged machine. Combined with the 
unavailability of the lower-priced Amiga 1200 in 
North America for the rest of the year and an 
equally jolting increase in price for the CD32, the 
Amiga CD-ROM console, the situation was 
collapsing fast. 

An uproar ensued, Amiga users called, faxed, 
wrote, and bellowed. Goff explained the price as 
a necessary consequence of high production 
costs. Still, the flames grew. Finally, in response, 
Gilles Bourdin, press officer for Amiga 
Technologies, issued a release flatly denying that 
the price was an official company decision. In 
fact, the release went on to deny that no “firm” 
North American distribution channels had been 
established. Petro Tyschtschenko, general 
manager ofthe company, flew out to Philadelphia 
for an impromptu North American distribution 
meeting. As this issue goes to press, the full 
results are hazy, but a price significantly lower 
than the proposed $3,500, though still higher 
than the industry average for a home computer, 
seems to have come out of the wash. 

While the 64 was not on the minds of the 
participants of that meeting, it has not been 
forgotten. When | contacted Ed Goff, who doubles 
as legal advisor to Amiga Technologies, we 
discussed the future of the machine. The line at 
the moment is that neither Escom nor Amiga 
Technologies will directly pursue the manufacture 
of the machine. However, they have already been 
approached for licensing terms by CD-ROM 
manufacturersinterestedin compiling emulation 
collections. Apparently, no company has 
expressed interest in a total-package license of 
either the 64 or the entire line of Commodore 8- 
bits with the intent to manufacture, but Goff did 
not rule such a deal out, and CMD was quite 
receptive when | offered Goffs number and 
suggested a chat. 

The advantages of such a license for Amiga 
Technologies are clear. Virtually money for 
nothing, the only cost to the company would be 
that of locating the necessary documentation, 
dyes, and molds and boxing them for shipment. 


6 


The advantages to the market are just as evident, 
returning fresh product to the market and 
allowing for future development and perfection. 
The C-65 may be the Holy Grail of collectors and 
tinkerers now, but as a completed machine, it 
would be formidable. 

Along with the shower of news that brought 
the Great $3,500 Price Fallout came news of an 
Amiga Technologies “miniature developer 
conference” and the first public appearance of 
the company at a trade show. On July 7, Amiga 
Tech invited the leading German developers of 
Amiga hardware and software to a meeting and 
“brainstorming session” held by Manfred 
Schmitt, president, chairman, and majority 
owner of Escom AG, and Tyschtschenko. The 
primary goals, beside allowing Escom’s top man 
to pick the brains of some of the Amiga’s leading 
developers, were to discuss continuing 
development for the existing Amiga lines as well 
as to exchange ideas on the future enhancement 
and growth of the technology. A similar meeting 
is forthcoming in London, England. 

From August 26th until September 3, Escom 
AG and its subsidiaries Virtual Products and 
Amiga Technologies will beat the “Internationale 
Funkausstellung” computer fair in Berlin, 
Germany. Amiga Tech plans to display the Amiga 
1200 and 4000T lines of computers while Escom 
will unveil its Commodore Golf PC line of 
computers, Pentium-class machines intended to 
capture more of the German market with the 
name recognition of the once-mighty computer 
company. 

The Amiga and the 64, the sleeping beauty 
sisters of computing. The door is open to suitors 
for the older daughter, may she marry well. As for 
theyounger, hersecond stepfather says he’s ready 
to make a worldly woman of her. (Remember, 
Commodore bought the Amiga from Amiga 
Corp.) Can Amiga Technologies end the story 
happily ever after for these two? Watch this space. 


6) 


Amiga Technologies 

Berliner Ring 89 

D-64625 Bensheim 

Germany 

Telephone: ++49 6252 709 195 
Fax: ++49 6252 709 417 


Issue 9 


dy Jim Brain 


Welcome to another edition of Commodore Trivia. As 
many of you may know, these trivia questions and 
answers have been donated by me to the Commodore 
community at large. Unlike other articles in 
Commodore World, these trivia questions have been 
placed in the public domain. I ask only that the trivia 
questions remain intact and unchanged, and that my 


name and address appear somewhere so users can 
contact me. The trivia is also used fora contest I run on 
the Internet; contact me at the included address for 
more information. Because curiosity has the best of 
me, I always welcome a note or postcard detailing 
where the trivia goes. I always welcome new 
questions—provided they come with answers. Enjoy. 


Jim Brain 
Brain Innovations, Inc. 


602 North Lemen 
Fenton, MI 48430 


$070 


$060 


COMMODORE TRIVIA #8 QUESTIONS 


On a PET series computer, what visual power-on indication will tell the 
user whether the computer has Revision 2 or Revision 3 ROMs? 


The IEEE-488 interface is sometimes called the GPIB interface, What does 
GPIB stand for? 


Commodore manufactured at least two hard drives with IEEE-488 
interfaces. Can you name them? 


Why didn’t buyers like the original PET-64? 


On a PET Revision 2 ROM, what was the largest single array size that 
BASIC could handle? 


On the stock 1541, data is transmitted one bit at a time. How many bits 
are transferred at a time on the Commodore 1551 disk drive? 


On all Commodore floppy disk drives, how fast does the disk spin? 


Upon first reading the Commodore 1541 Error channel after turning on 
the disk drive, what error number and text is returned? 


$078 


$079 


SOTA 


$07B 


$07C 


$07D 


$07E 
$O7F 


What error number and text is returned on a 1551? 


Commodore printers are normally assigned to device #4, but they can be 
also used as device #? 


What microprocessor is used in the Commodore 1551 disk drive? 
When the VIC-20 was designed, the serial port throughput was roughly 
equivalent to the throughput of the IEEE-488 bus? Why isn't it very fast in 
production VICs? 


On Commodore computers, how much RAM is set aside as a tape buffer? 


On Commodore computers, most every peripheral has a device number. 
What is the device number of the screen? 


What is the device number of the keyboard? 
Commodore computers use som lemnent notation to represent 


integers. What is the 2's-complement hex representation of the signle 
byte -1? 


COMMODORE TRIVIA #7 ANSWERS 


According to the initial power-up indication on the monitor, a stock 
Commodore 16 has 12277 bytes i for BASIC program use. A number 
of people have calculated 12287 bytes, so the power-on message may be 
in error. I guess it is time to dig out the C-16 and power it up. 


According to its initial power-up message, the Plus/4 has 60671 bytes free. 
“The Friendly Computer” 


Though not well-known outside of the US, Henry Morgan introduced the 
new Commodore 64 computer system in the US. In other countries, the 
answers differ, as countries like Finland had the Statue of Liberty announce 
the C64 birth. 


TEDMon. TED, as you know, stood for Text Editing Device. 
21. 


The interpreter peogrann is called the Interface Processor (IP). It handles 
the dispatching ofall commands sent to the drive, as well as corrdinating 
the flow of traffic between the disk and the computer. 


First, we need to define hard-reset. A reset differs from a power-cycle, 
since the latter does not retain the RAM contents. In this case, the answer 
is analogous to the RUN/STOP-RESTORE combination found on the 64 
and VIC-20, Hold down RUN/STOP and CTRL and press the recessed 
reset button on the side of the computer, | believe this works for the C-16 
as well. 


Rumor has it that Jack Tramiel always wante to use a naughtical term, but 
most had been already used. However, one day he watched a moving 
company van pass by on thestreet with the name hedecided touseassoon 
as he saw it: Commodore. 


Volume 2, Number 4 


$069 


SO6A 


SO6B 


$06D 


$O6E 


$O6F 


He went to Apple Computer. He stayed with them briefly, but it seems 
that Apple and Chuck got along even worse than Commodore and Chuck. 


First, he went off to start a company called Sirius, which died almost 
beforeit started due toa lawsuit over the name. Then, he and some former 
Commodore designers came up with the “Victor” computer, which did 
modestly, but never took off. 


The KERNAL routine at $FFD2 on all Commodore 8 bit machines outputs 
the PETSCII character code contained in the .A register to the current 
output device. The carry flag indicates the presence of an error on return. 


The 1581 hasa couple such hidden messages. In the idle loop of the IP, the 
text says “am i lazy???...no just wanted to save a few ms...”. Also, in the 
same loop, the following can be found: “this is lazy!!!”. Lastly, the credits 
in the 1581 roms are: “Software david siracusa. hardware greg 
berliNZDedicatedto my wife lisA”. (Note: the N in berliN and the AinlisA 
is typical of how strings are stored in the 1581, last byte has bit 7 set. The 
Z after berliN appears to have been a typo, but I can't say for sure. have 
a program that displays these. (Email me for info.) 

The 1571 has the ROM authors’ names hidden at the beginning of the 
ROM, but I don’t have a 1571 to scan for them. 


The PET 2001. Some said the 128 has a hidden message, but it wasn't the 
first. 


By typing: wait 6502,x (where x was a number between 1 and 255) the 
computer printed Microsoft! x times on the screen. 


Truthfully, NTSC can stand for different things. In regards to the television 
standard for the US, the expansion is National Television St andard 
Code. However, the body that formed the standard is also called NTSC: 
National Television System Committee. , 


COMMODORE WORLD 


COMMODORE AND CompuTER INDUSTRY NEws 


GEOS Users Get Faxed 

After several months of delays, Click Here Software has finally 
put the finishing touches on their initial release version of 
geoFAX. While the program was initially slated for release 
early this year, CHS programmer Maurice Randall explained 
that anumber of unexpected problems arose while developing 
the software, including having to overcome a flaw in the fax 
protocol routines built into most current fax modems. This 
latter “bug” created serious problems in coding the program, 
since overcoming its undesired effects required optimizing the 
program for more speed. 

With the problems overcome, however, CHS has become 
the first company to provide software capable of sending and 
receiving fax documents using a Commodore 64 or 128 
equipped with a fax modem. The program is also the first 
GEOS application to make use of Creative Micro Designs’ 
SwiftLink RS-232 interface, which is required for operation of 
the new software which works with high-speed fax modems. 

Not all fax modems are created equal, however, warns CHS. 
This initial version of geoFax is only compatible with fax 
modems that provide built-in Group III, Class 2 fax protocols. 
Some fax modems lack Class 2 compatibility, having only 
Class 1, Class 2.0, or some combination of these. CHS further 
states that you can easily test your modem for compatibility by 
using a terminal program to send the following command to 
your modem: 


AT+FCLASS=? 


A modem that supports both Class 1 & 2 would generate the 
response: 


1,2 


If the response contains a 2 (not to be confused with 2.0), then 
your modem is compatible. (Some modems may support both 
Class 2 and 2.0, so you might see both.) 

In addition toa SwiftLink and high-speed fax modem, other 
requirements for the first release of geoFAX include: a 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Commodore 64 or 128 witha color ormonochrome 40 column 
monitor, GEOS 64 or 128 V2.0, and any GEOS-compatible 
disk drive combination. Since fax documents are rather large, 
and speed is ofimportance, CHS recommends RAM expansion 
and/or large capacity drives. The system will work, however, 
on a system equipped with only a single 1541. 

CHS further recommends a high-resolution 8-,9-, or 24-pin 
printer, HP LaserJet, DeskJet, or PostScript laser printer is 
needed for printing out your faxes. Older 60 dpi printers 
(mostly Commodore or Commodore-compatible models fall 
into this category) are not directly supported by geoFAX, 
although they can be used to print out faxes that have been 
converted to geoPaint format. 

An interesting side benefit of geoFAX’s ability to convert 
incoming faxes to geoPaint documents is that it could become, 
in effect, a full-page scanning utility. Just send yourself a fax of 
any document you want to import into your computer, and 
convert it. This could be done from a remote fax, or right at 
home by using two phone lines and a regular fax machine. 
Furthermore, some of the newer fax machines can connect 
directly to the modem (they don’t require the use of a phone 
company line), relieving you of the need for a second phone 
line. Some models also support halftone scanning, which makes 
them an even better scanning accessory. 

GeoF AX is available directly from the author ($39.95 plus 
$4.00 s/h): Maurice Randall, P.O. Box 606, Charlotte, MI 
48813, (517) 543-5202. It can also be purchased from dealers, 
such as CMD ($39.95 + $6.00 s/h). CMD [(800) 638-3263] has 
also announced special pricing on various combinations of 
geoFAX with SwiftLink interfaces and Boca fax modems. 


Threshold Releases New Games 
Two new game titles for the Commodore 64 reached our 
offices recently. Both come from Threshold Productions, which 
announced several months ago that they would begin work on 
several new games for the C64. 

The first two releases include Slaterman ($14.95), a 
Mario-type arcade game, and Lazer Dual ($14.95), which is 
Tank-like arcade game with some interesting twists. Both titles 


Issue 9 


can be purchased directly from Threshold via check or money 
order. No specific mention was made of shipping charges in 
the information we received, so you may want to contact 
Threshold for further details. Other dealers may also have 
these titles in stock soon. Full reviews of these titles will appear 
in upcoming issues of CW. 

In addition to the two current releases, TP indicated that 
they have signed agreements with a number of other game 
developers throughout the world in an effort to bring more 
game titles to the U.S. market. The list of developers includes 
Cherry Software (Sweden); Timsoft, Vermes, Marex and LK 
Avalon (Poland); Substance (Germany); and Thunders 
(Hungary). 

The list of upcoming releases was even more impressive: 
Crimson Twilight I: Seeking the Spirit Staff, Zytron Mega 
Blast, MegaThrusterBall, Triss, World Conquest, Blaster Twins, 
Arcade Pilot, Mean Cars, The Farm, Coldarius, Speed or Die, 
Zone of Darkness, Lazarus, Eternal, Drip, Lingos, Memomania, 
Colormania, Another World, Kacper, Keplomania, Gangster, 
Ghost Town, Time Traveller, King, Army Days, Droid, Bound, 
Zamezysko, Cosmic Hero, Madrax, Nocturno, Tamer, Robbo, 
The Curse, Spitter, Rulers ofthe Darkness, Castle, Arctic Hunt, 
Hans Kloss, Agent UOP, Acid Runner, Flummi’s World, and 
The Evil Prince. 

In addition to this long list of games, TP also included a 
sample copy of Driven (Issue #8) with their shipment to us. 
Driven is a disk-based magazine that covers the Commdore 
Demoscene. Subscriptions are $2.00 per issue (maximum of 3 
issues ordered in advance). Driven is published approximately 
every other month, and subscriptions include the magazine, 
plus the newest NTSC demos, NTSC fixed PAL demos, utilities, 
and previews of upcoming games from around the world. 

Threshold Productions, 17730 15th Ave NE, Suite 229, 
Seattle, WA 98155. 


And More New Games From EBES 
Two more games from Electric Boys Entertainment Software 
have made their way to the U.S. market. 

Sword of Honour is a martial arts game somewhat 
reminiscent of The Last Ninjaseries. It features lethal weapons, 


hand to hand combat, music and over 2.5 Megabytes of 


compressed graphics which provide for over 90 colors onscreen. 
Walkers is an arcade game similar in some respects to 
Lemmings—a little less complex, though the graphics quality 
is decidedly better than the C64 version of the aforementioned 
Psygnosis classic. 
Both titles will be distributed in the U.S. by CMD, but no 
actual release dates or prices have been announced yet. Watch 


Volume 2, Number 4 


upcoming issues for further information and reviews. 


All Future Modems to be 
Boca-Compatible? 

Boca Research is proceeding in its plan to acquire Hayes 
Microcomputer, paying off all of the troubled company’s 
creditors as well as all bankruptcy court claims. The Hayes 
name has always been associated with the highest quality 
modems, and most every modem manufacturer over the past 
few years has sought acceptance for their own modems by 
labeling them as “Hayes-compatible”, 

Boca has announced that they will adopt the Hayes name for 
their company upon completion of the buyout, but that the 
corporation will be headquartered in Boca’s current facilities 
in Boca Raton, Florida. 


Removable Media Drive Market Heating Up 
Hot on the heels of lomega’s inexpensive Zip drive (100 MB), 
Syquest recently announced their own low-cost removable, a 
105 MB drive priced at the same $200.00 price point. Not to be 
outdone, lomega has gone after the high-capacity removable 
market with another low-cost solution: a 1 GB (yes, that’s a 
Gigabyte) drive which lomega calls the Jaz drive. Slated to sell 
for around $600, and with cartridge pricing at around $100 
eachin quantity, the new drive is bound to find wide acceptance 
among users with high-capacity backup and storage demands. 
In contrast, Syquest’s 270 MB drives cost around $500, with 
cartridges going for approximately $60. The Jaz drive will also 
be capable of using less expensive 540 MB cartridges ($69). 

Unlike the Zip drive, which uses a flexible magnetic meium 
encsed in a floppy-sized enclosure, and also unlike lomega’s 
other removable drives which use their proprietary Bernoulli 
technology, the Jaz uses standard 3.5-inch Winchester 
hard-disk technology enclosed in a cartridge, similar to 
products from their main competitor, Syquest. 


=“RrF oOo FF 
CORRECTIONS 


Issue 9 contained an error regarding our book review of RAM DOS 
128 Case Study. 


Brett Tabke of PHD Software, and author of the book, has informed 
us that Parsec is no longer the distributor of the book. It is now 
named RAMDOS Internals. Users wishing to purchase the book 
should write to: 


PHD Software Systems 


P.O. Box 23 
Moville, 1A 51039-0023 


COMMODORE WORLD 


To keep you in suspense a little longer, the only way you can find out if you're a winner is to match your subscription number (located on the 
mailinglabelon the cover) with the numbers below. Note: Grand Prize and Second Prize winners must call 1-800-638-3263 to claim your prize. 
Third place winners, do not call, you will automatically receive your prize in the mail. Congratulations to all of the winners! 


Grand Prize Second Place Third Place Winners 
Winners $10 Discount Certificate from CMD 


Winner! Jiffy DOS 64 or 128 System 03346 03691 04198 04823 
Choice of HD-20 or FD-400 03463 03353 03713 04264 spi 
04316 03397 03860 04279 04962 
04602 03456 03919 04367 05102 
¢ AQ 3 6 04705 03478 03978 04661 
04801 03537 04088 04668 


04896 03625 04191 04727 


User Group CONNECTION 
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL USER GROUP 


Looking fora Commodore user group in your area? User groups can help 
you solye problems, keep you informed of new products and events that 
might be of interest, and give you a chance to share your computing 
experiences with others who enjoy Commodore computing. 


Attention User Groups! 


Send us your group’s name, contact 
person's name and phone number, 
when and where you meet, number of 
members, and an address where users 


can write to you. Please send your 


group info to: 


AUSTRALIA C-64 Developments 
C-64/128 Club of NSW P.O. Box 150 
P.O. Box 244 Unanderra, NSW CW UG Connection 
Warilla, NSW Australia 3128 c/o Creative Micro Designs, Inc. 
Australia 2528 

CANADA Be Box 646 4 : 
ACT8CC Toronto PET Users Group East Longmeadow, MA 01028-0646 


1 Kitson Place 
Florey, ACT 


5334 Yonge St., Box 116 
Willowdale, Ontario 


Australia 2615 Canada M2N 6M2 

sar Ne soos FLORIDA Commodore Users of Wichita 
Albury, NSW Lakeland C.C.C. 6606 Cottonwood 

Aiea 111 Eau Claire Wichita, KS. 67207 


Australia 2640 


Auburndale, FL 33823 


Ete OA Group Polk Area C.C.C. hate EGON we Gan 
ue OF vl C 4845 Fleetwood St. As aie a eave ae 
senatngn aS Lake Wales, FL 33853 SAuperena 

Australia 3781 Portland, OR 97202-3512 

Woombug 8-Bit ILLINOIS SOUTH CAROLINA 
P.O. Box 213 Illinois Commodore Users Commodore Computer Club of Columbia 
Woombye, QLD 1108 W. Violet Dr. 710 Vintage Lane 

Australia 4559 McHenry, IL 60050-8061 Columbia, SC 29210 

Melbourne CUG KANSAS VIRGINIA 

P.O, Box 177 Topeka Commodore C.U.G. Russell Fork Commodore Club. 

Box Hill, Vic. PO Box 8439 HC1, Box 790 

Australia 3128 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Topeka, KS 66608 


10 


Birchleaf, VA 24220 


Issue 9 


% Click Here eva s 


¢ SEND & RECEIVE FAXES to/from any fax machine 
or computer running a fax modem 


¢ User-friendly and easy to operate 
¢ Auto-answer mode for unattended operation 
¢ Manual send/receive mode lets you share phone 


line 


¢ Built-in functions covert faxes to geoPaint files 
¢ geoPaint files may be faxed without conversion 


¢ Built-in printing functions for printing fax 
documents and geoPaint files 


¢ Printer drivers may be selected directly from 


within the program 


¢ Full-page scanning into geoPaint is possible 
using a standard fax machine as a scanner 


* Built-in simple terminal program lets you browse 
telecommunications services 


Bichpsiand|Pariems 


or CONT FETE hae rR 
Upgrade Chips 
6526 PLA (906114), 6567, 
all 901's, 8701, 8502, 6581 
6569 (PAL), 6522 
8562, 8500, 8563, 8564, 
8721, 8722, 325302-01 ..... $12.95 
251715, 251913, 390059... $14.95 
251968-02 (1541ROM)...... $10.00 


Power Supplies 
C-64 non-repairable $12.95 
C-64 repairable ; 
C-64 Heavy Duty 5.2 amps $39.95 
C-128 Heavy Duty External $39.95 
1750 5.2 amps 
154111 external 110 volts .. 

1581 external 110 volts $14. 95 


RAM Expanders 
1700, 128K (*)Board Only .. $19.95 
1700, C-128, 128K (*) 

1750, C-64, 512K (°) 


Computer Systems 


C-64 computer w/ PS. ....... $64.50 
C-128 computer w/ PS. ..... $89.95 


Miscellaneous 


1351 Commodore Mouse .. $24.95 
Computer Saver 

(C-64 protection system) ... 
Printer Port Adapter 

(Any CBM Printer to PC) ... 
C-64 Keyboard 

C-128D Keyboard F 
1084S Monitor to C64 Cable $6.95 
Flyback Transformers: 

* 1084S Phillips 

* 1084-D1 Phillips/Daewoo $42.50 
* 1084-D2 Daewoo 

Monitors 


Floppy Disk Drives 
1541 (*) 
154111 (New in box) 


$14.95 


$29.95 


Diagnostics 
Commodore Diagnostician is a 
complete guide to diagnosing and 
fixing all C64/128 computers and 
1541 GHVOS: is srsssencesvsvocsnauven $6.95 


(*) indicates refurbished unit « All Price Subject to Change without notice 
28 Grove Street, Spring Valley, NY 10977 


B “ 
I AXELOM 914-578-6522: ORDERS 800-815-3241 * FAX 914-624-3239 
CORPORATION Hours:9-5 pm EST + Add $5.00 UPS Charges « 


Volume 2, Number 4 


MC/Visa 


11 


* Commodore C-64, C-64C, C-128, 128-D computer 
¢ GEOS 64 or GEOS 128 version 2.0 

¢ SwiftLink RS-232 cartridge 

¢ Group III, Class 2 fax modem 


¢ GEOS compatible disk drive (large capacity drive 
or RAM disk recommended but not required) 


Prices & ‘Special Bundles 


GeoFAX.....00. $39.95 geoFAX & 


SwiftLink ........ $752 
SwiftLink .....666 $39.95 scents 

geoFAX, SwiftLink 
BOCA 14.4 


& BOCA 14.4 Fax 


Fax Modem .. $129.95 Modem......... $195% 


1-800-638-3263 


See our main ad in this 
issue for complete 
ordering information. 


EF X P A N OD 
YOUR SYSTEM 


3 SLOT CARTRIDGE PORT ©&XPANDERS 


The EX2+1 and EX3 Cartridge Port Expanders bring new 
expandability to you Commodore 64 or 128. Combine the 
use of compatible cartridges. Disable cartridges notin use. 
Change the address your computer finds a cartridge at. 
Avoid the constant changing of cartridges that puts extra 
wear on your cartridge port. The EX3 offers 3 vertical 
expansion slots, while the EX2+1 provides 2 vertical slots 
and 1 horizontal slot. Both units offer 7 switchable signals 
per slot, address mapping on slot 2, and a reset button. 


CALL 1-300-G38-3263 
=<e1 
2. 


Creative Micro Designs, Inc., P.O. Box 646, East Longmeadow MA 01028 


COMMODORE WORLD 


AUTOMATE 


In response to a letter to the editor, and in honor 
ofthe celebration of JiffyDOS’s 10th Anniversary, 
this installment of Top Tips provides users with 
a “BASIC SHELL” which helps to automate the 
JiffyDOS file-copier. 

While the program itself is pretty 
straight-forward, there are a couple of features 


1 PRINT" {CLEAR/HOME}JCOPY 
95 CMD" 

2 TE=5@0: 
TE) = 2TSTE 


DIMNS (TE) 
) wu 


,TS (TE) 
ie :NEXT 
DVS=""s: INPUT" {HOME} 
EVICE{3 SPACES}";DVS$: 
5 DV=VAL (DVS) 
6 SPS="";INPUT" SOURCE 
PS=""ORSPS="@" THENY 
7 SP=VAL(SP$) :IFSP<1ORSP> 
8 OPENL5,DV,15:PRINT#15, 
: PSsa""3 
:IFPSS= 
io OPEN15, 
es 
1] 
12 TDSse! "IT NP" 
SPA \CES}";TD$:IFTD$ 
13 TD=VAL(TD$) 
14 TPS="";INPUT" TARGET 
TPS=""ORTPS="@6" THEN17 
15 TP=VAL (TPS): 
16 OPEN15,TD 
5 
17 PTS= 
TS: IFPTS 
18 OPEN] 
5 
I 
20 Bias: S="": INPUT" {CRSR 
S}";PAS;: IFPAS= 
21 PRINT 
Boi se 
23 OPENS, 
24 GET#8, 
25 Sore ee ase TOSS 
26 GETH8,AS 
27 GET#8,BS: 
28 GET#8,LS 
$+CHRS (@)): 
29 SZ=L+H*256:CT=0 


="" THEN 2 


85A4 DV,15:PRINT#15, 
25@1 


FBAA 


53BA 
23CO 


@D93 
62E8 
EBDS wu 
""THEN2© 
9c2c STD, 1S PRIN 
6662 
D9BA 


AA83 
8D92 
FICO 
6B5B 
C8BE 
6B5B 
F475 
1AE®@ 


oy 0, 


"+ PA 


REM TO 
,HS:L=A 


ea 
SS 


A2FA 
670B 
NGOTO52 

31 IFA<>3 
32 GET#8,A$:A=ASC (AS+CHRS 
NNS (NF'+1) 
TLD NAME 
33 
GOTO33:REM SKIP SPACES 

34 TS(NF+1)=TS (NF+1)+CHRS (2 
T<3THENGET#8,A$:A=ASC (A 


2402 
A59@ 


8QOFF 


25FC 


COMMODORE WORLD 


:FORI=1TOTE: 


{2 CRSR DN} 
IFDVS=""THEN] 
: IFDV<80RDV>3@THENI 
PARTITION" ; 
254 
"CP"+SP$ 
INPUT"SOURCE PATH{5 
"CD"+PS$:CLOSE1 
lM {CRSR DN}TARGET DEVICE{3 
=""THEN1 

: LFTD<8ORTD>3Q0ORTD=DVTHEN1L 
PARTITION" ; 


[IFTP<1ORTP>254THEN1 
,15:PRINT#H15, "CP"+TP$:CLOSE1 


:INPUT"TARGET PATH{5 
P#15, "CD"4+PTS 
DN} PA 
nn THENPAS= i 
$:FL=@:TB=0:NF=0 
LINK 
LINK2 
SC (L$+CHR$ 
: tFFL=0" THENFL=1:GOT045 
3@ GET#8,A$:A=ASC (AS+CHR$§ (@) ) 
4THENGOTO3@:REM WAIT FOR 
(O)): 
=NS (NF+1)+CHRS (A): 


GET#8,A$:A=ASC (AS+CHRS (@) ): 


more (@)) 


THE JIFFYDOS FILE-COPIER 


that might confuse users who do not own any of 
CMD's high-capacity storage devices. Such users 
cansimply press the RETURN key whenasked for 
partition and path information. Likewise, CMD 
device owners can either make use of these 
features, or accept the device's current partition 
and path settings by pressing RETURN. 


The program prompts you with each file it finds. 
Press ‘Y’ to add the file to the copy list, ‘N’ to skip 
that file, ‘B’ to begin copying, or ‘Q’ to abort the 
copy. IMPORTANT NOTE: Lines 32 and 34 are 
too long to enter on a 64 (or 128 in 64 mode); use 
shortcuts or skip the REM’s at the end of these lines. 


a9) 


JCOPY (cont.) 


COPYRIGHT 19 
35 3 
36 T 
O41 
37 


NS ( 
SOURCE D 


SP$ 39 
4 
41 
42 
43 IFK 
REBE ® 
44; 


4THEN] 
:CLOSEL5 
SPACES} ";PS 


OT047:REM 
46 GOTO45 
47 
OTO49: REM 
48 GOTO27 


TPS:IF 


49 GET#8,AS: 


OTO52:REM 
5@ GOTO25 
Sl ¢ 

52 IFNF= 
ECTED!," 
53 


SPACES} ";P 
:CLOSE1 


54 


TTERN{9 SPACE 


FLEFTS (TS (NF+1), 


PRINT"COPY " 
+1)+"{2@ SPACES}", 
38 GETKS:IFKS<>"Y"ANDKS<>"N"ANDKS$<>"B"AN 
DK$<>"Q"THEN38 

PRINTKS 

LFKS="Y"THENNF=NF'+1:TB=TB+SZ 
IFKS="N"THENNS (NF+1)="": 
IFK$="B"THENCLOSE8 :GOTO52 
$="Q"THENCLOSE8: PRINT" {CRSR DN}ABO 
: END 


45 GET#8,AS:A=ASC (AS 


GET#8,AS$:A=ASC (AS+CHR§ () ) 


@THENPRINT"{CRSR DN}NO FILES 
: END 

PRINT" {CRSR DN}COPYING"NF"FILES USING 
s ioe BLOCKS" 


@#pv :REM SET 
@XTD: REM 


+;REM FILETYPE 


L) ="D"THENKS="N":GOT 
;LEFTS (NS 
20); oft 


(NF+1)4+","+TS (NF 
Y/N/B/Q? "; 


TS (NF+1)="" 


+CHRS (@) ) : IFA=@THENG 
@ AT END OF EACH ENTRY 


: IFAS@THENG 
2ND @ AT END OF BLOCK 


A=ASC (AS+CHRS(@)): 
3RD ® AT END OF DIR 


IFA=@THENG 


SEL 


:CLOSES8B 


SOURCE 


SET TARGET 


FORI=1TONF 


PRINT" 
i 
DS 
a 
IFTS 


NEXT 


(I 
(I 
(I 


(@)) :H=ASC (H 


: IFST=64THE END 

septa 
34THE 

DRE M BU 


IFA< 
GOTO32: 


RETURN 
| 
RETURN 
IFA=32THEN 


>CT=CT+1:IFC 
:GOTO34 


He. 


FS=N$(1) 


COPYING: ";FS 

-"PRG" THENGOSUB69 
="SEQ" THENGOSUB7 1 
- ="USR “THENGOSUB73 
="REL"THENGOSUB75 


* (FS) PRG 
FS) SEQ 


*(FS)USR 
RETURN 
* (FS) REL 
RETURN 


Issue 9 


LOADSTAR SOFTWARE VALUES! 


The Compleat* Series 
The Compleat PRINT SHOP I: over 1300 artistic and never 


before published PRINT SHOP images. The smart, fast software package 
included allows you to quickly scan through the many PRINT SHOP wa be 
sequentially, by name, or by 
group number. Press a key an 
save the graphic you want in 2 
block, 3-block and eve 
PRINTMASTER graphic files 
All that plus a printed guide to 
your new sea of graphic files 
And if you like the first volume, # 
a "Il probabil haba to get your & 
nands on The Compleat# 
PRINT SHOP Il, which als 
contains over 1300 PRINT 
SHOP images, pened 
published on LOADSTA 
issues over the past ten years 
Included is the same smart 
fast software package included in The Compleat PRINT SHOP I. Each volume 
is $20.00. Volume 1: C-64/128 3.5-inch disk item #0001d3. 5.25-inch disks 
item #0009d5. Volume 2: C-64/128 3.5-inch disk item #0002d3. 5.25-inch 
disks item #0010d5 


 prsetrvsorsenn 


ane vane ee ri H rene: 


Ba 


icrsr up/down 


scan Images 
Next file 
R=block 
Jnblock 


- Peintnaster 


fave- Quit to Menus 


sas sion 


The Compleat Programmer: Become the Commodore 
programmer you've always wanted to be! Megabytes of knowledge crammed 
and stuffed onto eight 5.25-inch disks or two 1581 disks! Plus we include all 
the tools, extensions, languages, assemblers, tutorials and utilities you'll need 
to create the same type of software you see on LOADSTAR! This massive 
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5.25 set #0005D5. 3.5-inch disk #0005D3. For $5 more, get C= Hacking MAG 
#0006D3 (on_3.5-inch disks only and NOT available separately) to complete 
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The Compleat Maurice: A compilation of 26 solitaire card games 
written by Maurice Jones, the acknowledged master of card game simulations 
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The Compleat Dave: Two 1581 disks or three 1541 disks crammed 
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transcribed by the Master of Music, Dave Marquis, and now they're available 
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There are over 250 pictures, 

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* No, we didn't misspell "complete." Compleat is the ten dollar spelling of 
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— 


mG ROWTH 


What ls LOADSTAR? 


LOADSTAR is a monthly "magazine on disk" for the Commodore 
64/128. Subscribers receive two 1541 disks (or one 1581 disk) in their mailbox 
every month filled with news, articles and programs. These non-PD, high- 
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LOADSTAR's track record of over 11 years of uninterrupted publication 

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Other Products 


Geopower Tools - 19 Geos utilities: Calendar Printer, Fast Format, 
Geo Fetch (grab any portion of a screen as a Photo Scrap), Phoenix (resurrect 
a trashcanned file), Programmer's Calculator are just a few of the handy re 
¥ Side Two is filled with Clip Art (in Photo Album format) and fonts, $9.95 
64/128) Item #080525 


iz Songsmith - LOADSTAR's own music-making program. With this deluxe 


music editor/player you can easily transcribe music from sheet music or make 
up your own tunes, Songsmith comes with a slick 30-page manual and a 
jukebox player with eight tunes. $9.95 (C-64/128) Item #069525 


Game Star #1 - Eight games from LOADSTAR #70 - #100). The 
Tenement, Stack 'Em, The Sherwood Open, Gems, Stealth Bomber, Eagle 
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Just For Fun - Eight original games, There are arcade games, 
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Fun Four - Four original games. A huge maze game, trivia game, solitaire 
and a space shoot ’em up -- all runnable from a menu. $9.95 (C-64/128) Item# 
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Sport -This is a full novel on C-64 disk by author, Jeff Jones, about a 
crazed superhuman creature that kills 
humans for sport. Over 500 terrifying 
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software included. Optional printing 

f S capability. Bookmarks. Warning! This is a 
real novel with strong content, frank language, violence and adult situations. If 


eeu, the uncensored, hard-hitting action of real sci-fi/horror novels turns your 


stomach, please don't buy this book. Must be 18. One CMD HD disk #070327. 
Two 1581 disks #070323. Three 1541 disks #070325, $5.95 $1.00 Shipping 


Brainpower/Brainstorm - 80-column word processor and idea 
processor for the C-128. These two programs are together on one disk. It 


a) comes with a detailed 32-page manual. $9.95 (C-128 only) Item #069421 


- Best Of Loadstar Compilations: 
PSEE LOADSTAR’S #5 Anthology disk. $9.95 (C-64/128) Item #049525 
FROWN #4 Anthology disk. $9.95 (C-64/128) Item #049425 
#3 Anthology disk. $9.95 (C-64/128) Item #049325 
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Master Base - Database of users’ groups for the 80-column C-128. This 
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Still to come! The COMPLEAT GEOS, a treasure chest of GEOS clip 
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Volume 2, Number 4 


13 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Just For Starters 


by Steve Vander Arh 


COMMODORE BASICS FOR THE BEGINNER: PORT REVIEW & MORE SIMPLE BASIC 


Over the last few issues of this magazine, I've 
spent quite a bit of time discussing programming 
in BASIC. There are a couple of reasons why I've 
done this (apart from the obvious fact that the 
editor asked me to). First of all, BASIC is the 
language you have to use to control your 
Commodore computer. All those commands you 
type in to do things like format disks or load and 
runa game are part of the Commodore's built-in 
BASIC. In order to become more proficient with 
those commands, then, it pays to learn more 
about how the language works. Second, 
programming is an important part of using a 
computer to a lot of users. This is particularly 
true, I think, of Commodore users. Let’s face it, 
most people don’t buy a high-powered Pentium 
ora Power PC Macintosh so they can program it. 
But the Commodore, well, that’s different. 

I think a third reason for writing so much 
about BASIC is that programming is very good 
for your soul. Oh, boy, [hear you say, Vander Ark 
has really gone mystic on us this time. But think 
about it. When you know how to program your 
computer, even something as simple as a few 
lines to control text on the screen, you gain a 
sense of power over the machine. I think that all 
new computer users face a feeling of helplessness 
at first. I see this when I work with people as a 
computer consultant, helping them to use those 
machines on their desks productively. New users 
are intimidated by computers. I know I was, and 
I'm one of those people who reads computer 
manuals for fun. But when you start to program, 
you start to realize that you are calling the shots. 
You can make the computer do exactly what you 
want it to do, Not only that, but you also start to 
realize that there is in fact a very specific, 
understandable logic to the whole thing. Maybe 
you don’t know all the ins and outs of how your 
computer works, but you do know enough to 


COMMODORE WORLD 


convince you that you do have control. You have 
power over the machine. 

Think about the program you use. Maybe 
you're a games aficionado. Maybe you do word 
processing or work with a spreadsheet. Consider 
that those games and productivity programs you 
use were written by people just like you who have 
just learned more of the same stuffyou're starting 
to learn. Atsome point, they haltingly entered a 
few lines and made a computer somewhere print 
a simple “HELLO” on its screen. And those same 
people learned the same kinds of things you're 
learning now, step by step, until they were able to 
write programs that amaze others. For a lot of 
those people, their first programs were written in 
BASIC on a good old Commodore computer. 


On The Edge 

This issue we'll continue with our discussion of 
BASIC. Before I get into that, though, let’s take a 
brief tour of the outside edges of your computer. 
Way back in the second issue we talked about 
hooking up various equipment to your computer 
and from that you should at least have a passing 
familiarity with some of what we'll be talking 
about here, but stick with me. I'll get a little more 


14 


systematic about it in this column. Don't get 
scared off here, I'm not going to get all technical 
on you. | don't know much about the inner 
workings of this stuff myself. But there are a few 
details I can give you which just might come in 
handy. We'll be talking about switches and ports, 
which is the name for an opening where you can 
insert a plug ora device ofsome kind. Just to keep 
things simple for this time around, I'll stick with 
thearrangement ona 64, A 128 hasall these same 
portsandswitchesin more or less the same places, 
with a few extras thrown in for good measure. 

Let's start at a logical place: the on/off switch. 
By now, Lam fairly certain you'll know where that 
is, but just to make sure we're all together, I'll 
officially tell you that it is on the right side of your 
Commodore toward the back. Next, notice that 
port right near the on/off switch. That’s where 
you plug in the power cable. | know...you knew 
that already. There are two other ports on that 
side of the computer, both the same. Those are 
the joystick ports, and yes, you plug your joystick 
into them. They are numbered, by the way: the 
one nearer the front of the computer is number 1 
and the other one is number 2. Most games use 
port 2 for some technical reason that I've never 
been too clear on. You also plug your mouse into 
a joystick port, as well as things like a Koala Pad 
graphics tablet or a lightpen. 

The front and the left edges of your computer 
don’thave any ports or switches, but the back has 
awhole bunch of them. Since we've been traveling 
around the outside of the machine in a clockwise 
direction, we'll encounter that wide port toward 
the left side first. That's a very useful port usually 
referred to as the “user port.” You can use it to 
plug a modem into (probably the most common 
use for this port.) The VideoByte II and other 
digitizers also use this port. Ifyou need an RS-232 
interface, say for a printer or anon-Commodore 


Issue 9 


modem, the user port is where you'll plug in the 
cable. Unfortunately, you need a specific 
Commodore RS-232 interface cable for this and 
they can be hard to come by these days. 

Thereare other ports on the backas well. Right 
next to the user port is the place where you can 
plugina Datasette. | know, no oneusesa Datasette 
anymore (that’s the name for Commodore's own 
cassette program recorder). But the port is still 
there, and every so often someone will come up 
with a use for it. | have a Xetec printer interface 
which has a little cable that plugs into the 
Datasette port, for instance. Next to that are two 
round ports. I always get them mixed up, so I 
double-checked before writing this. The first one 
is the “serial” port and it is here that you plug in 
your disk drive cable. You can attach other serial 
devices to your computer by connecting them to 
each other in a long line, starting with this port. 
Multiple disk drives are hooked up this way, as 
aresome Commodore printers. The second round 
port is for your video cable if you are connecting 
your Commodore to a monitor. The next little 
round port is for a standard RCA jack, the kind 
you use for hooking up a stereo. If you're using 
your Commodore with a television set, you're 
plugging that cable into this port. When you plug 
your 64 into a television set, you need to specify 
which channel it will use (either 3 or 4; go for the 
one that isn’t already used by a non-cable station 
in your area). You adjust this with that next little 
switch you see on the back of your machine, 

Finally, we find the cartridge port. This is a 
very useful portindeed. It was originally designed 
to accommodate programs on cartridge, which 
was the way a lot of games came back when the 
Commodore 64 was first produced, Now you are 
more likely to be plugging a RAM device into it 
like the RAMLink. As you use your Commodore 
more and more, you may find that you have more 
than one device you'd like to keep plugged into 
this port. Creative Micro Designs sells expanders 
for both the cartridge port and the user port 
which will let you do this with ease. 


Go with the flow 
The more programming you do with BASIC, the 
more you need to think about something called 
“program flow.” The program flow is the sequence 
in which things will happen in your program, 
which command will happen first, which will 
follow next, and so on. BASIC uses line numbers, 
soat first the flow ofa program may seem obvious, 
Inall the programs you've written so far, the flow 
has proceeded numerically from the smaller line 
number to the greater. 

Ofcourse, you don’t need to write a program in 
exactly the same order that it will actually execute 


Volume 2, Number 4 


or happen when you type RUN. You can add a 
line to the sequence wherever you like simply by 
typing a line number that fits somewhere in 
between two other line numbers and typing in a 
BASIC command. When you finish typing and 
press RETURN, your new line will insert itselfin 
the numerical sequence as nice as you please. 
When you run your program, however, each 
command will execute in exactly the order they 
come numerically by line numbers. 

Until something tells BASIC to skip to another 
spot, thatis. There are times when it’s handy to be 
able to skip a few lines. Let’s imagine a program 
which asks a question of the user. When they 
answer, the program might respond one way for 
a “yes” and another for a “no” response. That 
kind of thing would be impossible ifthe program 
was forced to plod along to the next command, 
no matter what, But fortunately, there are a 
number of commands that make it possible for 


the program flow to change in a number of 


interesting ways. For now, let's takeralook at one 
of the most basic, GOTO. 

GOTO meansexactly whatit looks likeit means: 
“goto.” When youuse GOTO, you need to specify 
where exactly you'd like the program to go. This 
is done by placing a line number after the GOTO 
command, Try this: 


10 PRINT 
20 PRINT 
30 PRINT 
40 PRINT 


“I (LIKE: TO” 
“PROGRAM” 

“IN BASIC ON” 
“MY COMMODORE. ” 


When you run this program, you'll see this 
sentence appear on your screen. 


I LIKE TO 


PROGR 


IN BASIC 
MY COMMODORE. 
Now let’s add a line between lines 20 and 30. On 
a clear line type 


and press RETURN, Ifyou list your program you 
will now see that line 25 with its GOTO statement 
has been inserted. Now run the program. The 
sentence has changed, hasn't it? 


I LIKE TO 
PROGRAM 


MY COMMODORE. 


You'll notice that line 30 was never executed. The 
GOTO forced the program flow to skip ahead to 


15 


line 40. This is a simple example of how the 
program flow can be interrupted by a command. 

In order to create a program that reacts to a 
user's response to a question, though, we need to 
do more than just jump around. We need some 
way of telling the computer to look at what the 
user entered and then jump to one line or another 
depending on what it was. 

This is actually quite easy todo. The command 
we'll use is IF, followed by the command THEN, 
What we'll be telling the computer to do is IF a 
certain thing happens THEN do something. That 
something at the end there can be any number of 
commands, We'll use a GOTO, 

Here's how the whole thing will be set up. Read 
the notes to see what's going on in each line. 


10 INPUT 


(Y/N) ";AS 


“DO YOU LIKE DOGS 


This line will ask a question of the user and then 
take theanswerandcallit A$. That A$isa variable; 
the dollar sign tells the computer that the 
information entered will be text, in this case a Y 
oranN, 

20 IF AS="Y" THEN GOTO 50 
Here's our IF and THEN line. Notice that we told 
the computer to compare the answer entered by 
the user to the letter Y. If there is a match, the 
THEN partofthe line willexecuteand the program 
flow willjump to line 50. If there is no match, the 
program flow moves on to line 30 with the THEN 
part never happening. 

F AS="N" THEN END 

Another IF... THEN statement, this time stopping 
the program with an END if the user doesn’t like 
dogs. We can actually place any command we 
want there after the THEN. 


This is what will happen ifthe user enters a Y for 
yes. 

We could still havea problem, though. What if 
the user enters something other than Y or N? 
How can we make our program more user 
friendly? The whole question of handling user 
inputisa very important one, There area number 
of excellent ways to streamline and safeguard the 
process. Next issue we'll talk about some of those 
things. 

») 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Foren Exchange 


Recently, this front page title of an Austrian 
newspaper caught my attention: “GERMANS 
INVADE AUSTRIA!” We experience this 
“invasion” every summer. Hundreds of thousands 
of Germans—all going on vacation at the same 
time—head south into the Austrian Alps or use 
Austria as a stop over on their way to the 
Mediterranean beaches. Most main south bound 
autobahns resemble immense parking lots on 
the weekends. Almost all Europeans receive a 
three to five week PAID vacation and tend to 
splurge or “blow the wad” once they reach their 
destination. 

You may be telling yourself that this has 
absolutely nothing to do with the Commodore 
64/128 and thatis exactly the point ofthismonth’s 
Foreign Exchange. As far as computing and 
programming are concerned, the market and 
programming activities are dead! From June to 
August there is very little movement in the 
computer scene. Sales drop off, as people are 
saving their cash for Apfelstrudel and Italian ice 
cream and programmers are more interested in 
bikes and bikinis than peeks 1) pokes! This is, 
then, a good time to talk abo 1 some interesting 
developmentsand items that occurred just before 
the summer invasion. 

Most of you knov. already that Commodore 
was finally purchased by the German computer 
giant ESCOM, What you may not know, is that 
this is very good news for C64 users. ESCOM is a 
top notch company with branch offices and 
partners all over Austria and Germany. The fact 
that they will “definitely and irrevocably produce 
the C64” (quote) was once again confirmed at a 
press conference in Frankfurtin early June. Many 


COMMODORE WORLD 


By Joseph Gaul 
> 


EUROPEAN VACATION? 


experts are predicting a C-64 renaissance here, 
should ESCOM re-import the computerand parts 
back into Germany at rock bottom prices. Now, 
try to picture the impact a US computer company 
of, let’s say, the size and influence of CompUSA 
would have on the C64 if they had purchased 
Commodoreand made this announcement. I dare 
say that a lot of software companies would get 
back into the 8 bit market in a hurry! | certainly 
do not want to wish the summer away, but I can't 
wait until ES;COM’s summer vacation is over and 
their fall press releases start hitting the news 
wires. 

With the birth of the CMD SCSI HD-Series, 
many ofus have toyed with the idea ofhooking up 
a CD-ROM drive to our computer. Although the 
hook up isn’t very complicated, we have never 
had a real reason to do so. Until now, that is. 
Achim Tage from W6lfrath, Germany has given 
usa reason. His CD-Commander for the C64 and 
C128 went on sale here in May and is quite the 
program! Afterhooking upaSCSI CD-ROM drive 
to. a CMD HD, his commander allows you to 
install the drive, determine drive numbers, send 
BASIC 2.0 commands and copy one or more files 
from the CD to your HD or another device. 
BASTA!—as the Italians love to say. (“That's all 
there is toit!” isa good translation.) Once copied, 


16 


you can use Big Blue Reader to transfer the files 
into a usable Commodore format. The 
Commander works without a hitch here on the 
European Commodore 128's, and testing of the 
program has begun in the USA on the NSTC 
systems. Achim is also working on a CD-Audio 
program for the C64/128 and the beta version is 
currently being tested here. 

64NET is a special management hard and 
software kit which hit the German market in 
April. The kit allows a Commodore user access to 
a PC, XT or AT hard drive where he can create 
1541, 1571 and 1581 partitions. He can then use 
them as he would a normal floppy drive with all 
functions and memory characteristics. This is a 
unique way to get to play ball with the big boys, 
andbecause of the parallel connection disk access, 
speed is claimed to be comparable to that of 
CMD’s HD-Series. We'll have more information 
on this kit in future issues of CW. 

The last item on this month's agenda is a 
program that has been available in Europe for 
about a year now, but is just now coming into its 
own. Arndt Dettke and Wolfgang Kling have put 
years of programming into their GoDot, a 
masterful piece of graphical programming 
wizardry that is without a doubt in a class all by 
itself. Whether youare creating yourown graphics 
or importing them from other computer formats 
(Amiga IFF, PCX, ete.), GoDot does itall. Inorder 
to do justice to the program and its authors, next 
issue's Foreign Exchange will be completely 
devoted to the introduction of this piece of 
software. In the meantime, I’m heading north for 
my vacation! 


») 


Issue 9 


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Volume 2, Number 4 17 


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COMMODORE WORLD 


Understanding 
“preacsneets 


by, Dauid Paslhurst 


Have you ever wondered just what an Electronic 
Spreadsheet program is? Or more importantly, what 
one could do for you? Wonder no longer... 


Although they are now well into their second decade 
of use, computer spreadsheets are still relatively 
unknown to Commodore users. Most everyone 
has a word processor, and some use databases, but 
spreadsheets aren't as common as you see in the 
IBM world. Maybe the original game image of the 
C64 inhibited developers, or spreadsheets seemed 
too math-oriented for the typical user. In any case, 
spreadsheets here have never seen the development 
and use other computer systems have, which is a 
shame. By making working with numbers as easy 
as a word processor works with words, a 
spreadsheet eases the effort we have to put into 
such chores as budgets, taxes, and accounting. 
Learning about them and their uses is important, 
both because they are useful tools for working with 
numbers and the opportunities they spell in the 
business world, 

Offices everywhere use the Big Three: Word 
Processors, Databases, and Spreadsheets. So 
learning each is good business. And what you pick 
up now on a Commodore is helpful since 
spreadsheets are fundamentally the same on all 
computers, and learning one will make the others 


COMMODORE WORLD 


18 


easierto understand. With these thoughts in mind, 
let's consider what spreadsheets are, and what 
makes them tick. 


Electronic Spreadsheets 

One way to visualize a spreadsheet is as a large 
sheet of graph paper stretching in all directions. 
Each square of that paper is big enough to write a 
number, or a piece of lettering like a title or label. 
Results, such as totals and averages, are also placed 
in squares. This is the format that spreadsheets 
have had for years in business, long before the 
computer, Originally, large amounts of paper, or 
blackboards, held all the figures and results. 
Changes meant using a big eraser, and a lot of time 
correcting. Then the computer came, and someone 
thought ofmakingan electronic spreadsheet called 
VisiCalc. The rest, as they say, is history. 

‘This ease of changing is what makes electronic 
versions of spreadsheets so popular, Like the 
comparison between a typewriter and a word 
processor; the results are the same, but corrections 
are vastly easier to perform with the word processor. 
In each case, the advantage is the ability to adjust 


Issue 9 


things easily. One example would be a column of 
figures that might be multiplied by fifteen percent 
and then totalled. Change that to sixteen percent, 
and you have quite a chore on paper. But on the 
computer, often only the number in one place 
need be changed, from fifteen to sixteen. And to 
make it even easier, the program will redo all 
calculations and display the corrected results 
automatically. This saves not only editing effort, 
but calculation effort, as well as the possibility of 
mistakes. 


Some Uses 

Keping figures accurately updated and reducing 
the effort of changes are two of the electronic 
spreadsheet'’s greatest assets. Not that they don’t 
have other advantages. Because they keep things 
nice and structured in columns and rows (just 
like graph paper), they are handy for lists and 
tables, such as telephone directories or address 
books, And unusual uses exist; one fellow even 
managed to write a book with it. In fact, any time 
information is best organized into columns and 
rows, aspreadsheet is advantageous. Forinstance, 
tables needed by word processors are more easily 
set up on a spreadsheet, and then imported into 
the word processor. 

This column and row organization is very 
natural when working with numbers, asanymath 
student can attest. But organizing numbers isn’t 
all they do; they also manipulate them. Changing 
fifteen to sixteen percent involves calculations 
applied toacolumn ofnumbers, anda total made 
of the amounts. All these calculations are 
contained in formulas that form a part of the 
spreadsheet, much like formulas in BASIC 
programs. Depending on the program, 
spreadsheets can include ways to manipulate 
numbers that rival BASIC, and even surpass it, 
using functions and operations suited to working 
with data in the spreadsheet format. 


Spreadsheet Cells 

Formulas are familiar to BASIC users, but 
comparing them to spreadsheets causes a 
difficulty; where are the variables? Simply put, 
each location on the spreadsheet can bea variable. 
Looking at the graph paper analogy again, let's 
focus on each square, which we'll now refer to as 
a cell. Each cell can be blank, or be filled with an 
item ofimportance—text (suchas labels or titles), 
numbers, or formulas. 

These cells are organized into rows and 
columns, and are referred to by their position. 
Often, the columns are numbered, and the rows 
have letters rather than a number: A-Z for the 
first 26 rows, the 27th to 52nd from AA to AZ, the 
53rd BA, and so on. Of course, this isn’t standard 


Volume 2, Number 4 


on the Commodore machines, and rows may be 
numbered, while columns are lettered. In any 
case, at the junction of any given rowand column 
isa specific cell, andit’s identified by the row and 
column names. For example, the only cell in both 
Row G and column 23 is called G23; 1A200 is in 
the 200th column, and row 1A; and so on, And 
when referring to these cells, the letter part always 
comes before the number, so 200IA is a mistake, 
nota cell. 

Formulas rely heavily on these cell names in 
their calculations, because the cells are the 
variables in spreadsheet math. Typically, a BASIC 
calculation might look like this 


X=A+SOR (B) 


Which would take the value in A, the square root 
of B, add them, and place the result in X. Ina 
spreadsheet, variables are replaced by cell names, 
resulting in the equivalent spreadsheet formula 
(with slight variations between programs): 


Now instead of A, the value comes from cell A12; 
and for B, cell B15 provides the value. But what 
about X, the result? This formula, like A12 and 
B15, is a cell; and the cell is where the result is 
placed. If you were to look at the display, the 
result, not the formula, would be visible in this 
cell. Cells with formulas in them have this 
schizophrenic personality for a reason; formulas 
are needed for calculations, but it’s results that 
matter, and spreadsheets are designed for this. 
The formula is easily accessible to edit or delete, 
but we see the answer on the display screen. 


Displaying and Displays 


The display of the spreadsheet takes up most of 


the computer screen viewing area. Typically, 
several lines at top or bottom are used for other 
purposes, and the rest devoted to viewing the 
spreadsheet. Along the top and left side of this 
display screen are the row and column 
identifications, always letting you know what 
section of the spreadsheet you're looking at. This 
is important, since you can actually see only a 
small portion of the whole spreadsheet at any 
time. On the C64 screen, 100 individual cells 
might be visible, yet a spreadsheet containing 
thousands of cells is possible. To see the rest, the 
screen scrolls around via the cursor keys. As you 
move to the bottom of the screen, a new row 
scrolls into view. Likewise to moving up, to the 
left, or the right. Like a magnifying glass on a 
large sheet of paper, you have to move around to 
see the whole picture. 


19 


Besides this display window, there is also the 
input or command line, the communication link 
tothe spreadsheet. You can’t directly contact any 
cell on the screen. Instead, a cursor is moved 
around the display, selecting individual cells. The 
contents of that cell is placed on the input line to 
be edited or deleted. Pressing RETURN then 
copies this data into the cell, where it’s calculated 
(ifa formula) and displayed. 

The display of a cell’s contents is formatted 
according to the type of data present. Text is 
chopped offat the right if it’s too long to fit. And 
numbers are displayed according to a format 
which you can change. For instance, you might 
choose all numbers to display with three decimal 
places of precision. In this case, 1 would be shown 
as 1.000, and 2.4567 as 2.456—the display 
formats numbers to fit, even ifthey appear to lose 
value. Besides number formatting, cells are often 
adjustable as to whether the information is 
centred in the cell, placed against the right edge, 
or against the left edge. Colours are also optional 
on some spreadsheets displays. These display 
attributes all hold one thing in common; they do 
not affect the internal value of the number in the 
cell, only the displaying of it. 2.4567 is still 2.4567 
inside the computer, as performing a calculation 
will show. 

These display formats operate on selective parts 
of the spreadsheet. The whole spreadsheet can 
have a default, or global format. Additionally, 
specific columns or groups of cells may have their 
own format. One column for instance may be 
formatted for dollars (displaying two decimal 
places) while another column may be integers 
(displayingnone). This variety allows you to make 
the spreadsheet ‘look’ more suitable for the type 
of information you're working with. 


Functions in Spreadsheets 

Atthis point youcan probably imagine some jobs 
that would work well on a spreadsheet. Working 
with columns of figures would be as simple as 
enteringthem, one toacell, and placinga formula 
at the bottom-most cell to total them. The result 
is immediately displayed in that cell. Errors and 
omissions are added or edited, and the results are 
reflected by all formulas. 

Obviously, totalling columns isn’t the only 
thing you'd like to do. Spreadsheets use a variety 
of functions to give their formulas usefulness. 
Many are similar to BASIC, such as finding the 
square root. Butsomeare unique to spreadsheets. 
Column adding isn’t easily possible in BASIC, 
but in a spreadsheet, a function like@SUMO (or 
something similar) would do the trick. 

Using @SUM()as an example, you can see the 
effort itsaves. Adding cellsin.a column from F6 to 


COMMODORE WORLD 


K6, without a function, would look like 
F6+G6+H6+16+J6+K6 
and with it, it would be 


@SUM(F6..K6) 
Although the difference in typing is small here, 
imaginea larger column ofone hundred entries— 
now the difference is clear. 

The @SUMO function works on groups of 
cells, rather than one. This group can bea column 
(in this case), a group of columns and rows, or 
combinations of the two. Called blocks, these 
groups can be uniquely described by listing two 
cells, one from the top left corner, and one from 
the bottom right corner. This would mean that 
B5..D7 would outline a block containing the cells 
inrows B,C, and D, but only from columns five to 
seven. The function would use every number in 
this block (including results from formulas 
therein) inits calculation, and wouldbe equivalent 
to: 


B5+B6+B74+C5+C6+C7+D5+D6+D7 


Spreadsheet Choices 

All spreadsheets include a wide variety of 
functions. Some mimic BASIC, such as the 
@SQR() function. Others are unique to the 
business world, such as@PV( (for Present Value, 
a mortgage financial function). Still others have 
no real counterpart. Functions like @SUMO, 
@AVG(), and @MAX() find the sum, average 
and maximum, respectively, of a group of cells. 
Yet another useful function imitates a BASIC 
command, nota function—the IF statement. Like 
the BASIC command, this allows the selection of 
choices. Usually, the choice is between one 
formula or another, but it could be a cell or other 
calculation. 

Anexample of the use of @IF( could bea price 
discount. Ifa customer spends over $1000 he gets 
a ten percent discount, otherwise a five percent 
one. A formula for this might look like the 
following: 


The conditional test is the price range 
(A1<=1000). Commas separate the true and false 
choices. If Al (the purchases) total more that 
1000, the first choice is calculated (A1-0.010*A1), 
giving the ten percent deduction. If this test is 
untrue, the second choice is calculated 
(A1-0.05*A1), resulting in the five percent 
decrease. This function would return one of these 


COMMODORE WORLD 


two values, which could then be manipulated like 
the result from any other function. 

Without the above @IFQ), you would have to 
examine each customer, deciding which 
percentage he gets. Instead, you can create a 
formulaand leave the checking tothe spreadsheet, 
resulting in less editing and effort. 

The formula could be further adjusted. If the 
limit for discounts changed monthly, the function 
could be changed to: 


and place 1000 in cell A9. When this value 
changes, simply edit cell A9, instead of editing 
the more complicated formula. 

Techniques like this to streamline formulas 
are important because of the way spreadsheets 
are set up and maintained. There can be many 
formulas, and adjusting them is an effort in a 
larger spreadsheet. So by removing the changing 
elements (the discount level) we remove the part 
likely to be edited. If the five and ten percent 
discounts were also likely to change, we could 
move them out of the function into their own 
cell. This serves to make all formulas for 
customersidentical, except for the cell references 
each makes. 


Streamlining Spreadsheets 
Because of the repetitiveness present, 
spreadsheetsallow for easy copying of cells. When 
acell’s formula is duplicated to another cell, the 
new formula’s cell references are adjusted to 
reflect the new location. Keeping this in mind, 
often a spreadsheet can consist of one formula 
simply repeated throughout the spreadsheet, and 
adjusted for each location. This automatic 
adjustment saves the effort involved in creating 
large numbers of formulas fora large spreadsheet. 
Automatically adjusting these cell names is 
fine in most cases, but not all. In the earlier 
example, the customer level at A9 would be 


adjusted when that formulais moved. Duplicating 
the formula down one row would alter the copy 
from 


to 


This would be fine ifeach customer hasa personal 
limit, but what if A9 is to be the limit for all 
customers? In this case, we need to ‘fix’ theaddress 
of A9, so duplicating the formula does not 
automatically adjust these addresses. In 
spreadsheets such as 1-2-3, the way is to include 
the $ sign in each address to be fixed in place. 
With this in mind, duplicating 


with the cell reference to A9 unchanged. Now, if 
the limit changes, adjusting it for 100, 1000, or 
one million customersis simply a matter ofediting 
one cell, A9. 


A Small Example 

To make this copying and formula writing more 
familiar, we'll work through a small example. A 
useful mortgage formula is@PVO, which means 
present value. Simply put, the present value is 
what a bank will lend you when you promise to 
pay a certain amount, at a certain interest rate, 
over a certain period of time. @PVQ is a handy 
function for figuring loans and mortgages, and 
might be included as a function on your 
spreadsheet. We'll assume, however, that your 
spreadsheet doesn’t have it, and build one from 
scratch. 


Example 1 


] 
Payment 
$500.00 


4 
Present 


$56,975.41 


tra1 


yalue 


Example 2 


20 


Payments 
360 
180 


Issue 9 


In BASIC, an equivalent formula would be: 
PV=PM* ( (1-(1+IN)*(-N))) /IN 


The main components are the interest (IN), the 
number of payments (N), and theamount ofeach 
payment (PM). Note that the interest is per 
payment, not yearly. (For example, a loan paid 
monthly with a 12% annual interest rate would 
have a monthly rate of 1%). Changing this to a 
spreadsheet simply involves using cells for 
variables. Let cell B1 be the payment, cell B2 the 
interest, and B3 the number of payments. The 
formula, which we'll place in B4 (and where the 
result is displayed), would become 
B1*( (1-(1+B2)*(-B3))) /B2 

Adding headings and appropriate formatting, 
the spreadsheet display would appear as shown 
in Example 1. (Notice the column and row labels, 
which would appear on screen). 

As you change the values in cells B1-B3, the 
value in B4 would be recalculated and displayed, 
letting you rapidly try different options by varying 
the interest, payments, and length. 

But what ifyou wanted to compare a variety of 
options simultaneously? Then you need two or 
more formulas, each with their own values. So 
you could copy the formula down one row, 
resulting in the formula: 


With the data placed in cells C1 to C3, the display 
should look something like Example 2. 


What If? 

Trying out options on aspreadsheet is nicknamed 
‘what-if calculating, a term that only came into 
vogue when spreadsheets on computers made 
seeing ‘what if I changed this’ quick and easy. 
More than anything discussed here, this 
highlights what makes spreadsheets so versatile 
and useful. They help organize something we all 
usually need help on; numbers. 


Your Number is Up 

Whether they're used to manipulate, crunch, or 
just display numeric data, spreadsheets areaboon 
to people who detest math, as well as to those who 
don’t. With a little time invested in learning to 
use spreadsheets, you'll soon find your own uses 
forthem. And the first time you use one to handle 
a chore like accounting and taxes, you'll wonder 
how you ever did without it. 


$) 


Volume 2, Number 4 


Commands in Spreadsheets: 
What Different Versions Can Do 


The Commodore realm is a varied place for 
the spreadsheet user. Much of the problem 
stems from the early days of computing. 
When spreadsheets were first written, a 
single standard for calling up commands 
didn’t exist. In the IBM world, Lotus 1-2-3 
eventually made everyone toe the line, and 
spreadsheets there all work similarly. Alas, 
the C64 and C128 never met their 1-2-3 
saviour, SO everyone pretty much does 
what they want. The only thing you can be 
sure of is that your manual is your prime 
authority on what your particular 
spreadsheet does, and how it does it. 

Commands are usually called up with a 
special keystroke or two, with keys like 
SHIFT, the function keys, and the 
Commodore key selecting variations. 
Depending on the program, you may have 
amenuofcommands displayed, or nothing. 
This can make the difference between using 
a program intuitively via the menus, or 
pouring over your manual constantly. 

Although the way to invoke commands 
differs widely, the actual operations 
performed do not. Most everything on the 
spreadsheet involves the display. 
Commands let you control the display look 
and feel, for instance, making columns of 
varying widths to fit more information on 
the screen. Numbers can be formatted for 
varying precision of decimal places 
displayed, such as two places for money 
amounts, or six for interest rates. 
Justification is another feature, letting each 
cell place its information centered, to the 
left, or to the right. Color is even used ona 
few programs, to highlight various cell 
values. 

On some spreadsheets, rows and 
columns of cells can be fixed into place as 
titles. The viewing screen on the display is 
always just a small portion of the whole 
spreadsheet, so using the cursor keys 
scrolls different portions of the spreadsheet 
into view. On larger jobs, headings and 
titles are lost when scrolling unless you 
lock these titles into place. Similarly, 
windows can be opened up in which part of 
the sheet can be viewed at all times, no 
matter what part of the spreadsheet the 
rest of the display is showing. 


21 


Commands for editing data are among 
the most often used you'll encounter. 
Creating a spreadsheet of dozens of cells 
is much easier with cut, paste and copy 
operations. Also, since columns and rows 
are so significant, most include commands 
to add or delete rows and columns, handy 
if you've almost finished a spreadsheet 
only to realize you need another row in the 
middle. 

Full |/O commands are included in most 
spreadsheets for the Commodores. Saving 
and loading files is the absolute minimum, 
but many spreadsheets also include 
commands for communicating with the disk 
drive, checking the error channel, listing 
directories, and sending commands. 
Printing to disk allows you to create files 
you can then import into your other 
programs or print at a later date. 

Printing operations are provided by all 
spreadsheets, buthere the available options 
vary enormously. Some can simply print 
out a section of the spreadsheet in a plain 
format. Others allow you to format your 
printed page, avoiding such problems as 
printing across the page perforation, or 
printing off the right edge of the paper. In 
some systems, codes can be sent to the 
printer, enabling such options as condensed 
printing, underlining, and other fonts. And 
one program even prints sideways (called 
landscape mode), letting you print out 11 
by 8-1/2inch spreadsheets, instead of 8-1/2 
by 11. 

Apicture is worth a thousand words, orin 
the case of spreadsheets, a thousand 
numbers. Graphs make relationships stand 
out among data, and a few (but not many) 
programs include graphs. Although a 
common feature among the IBMers, it's a 
late innovation that may not have reached 
your program. With it, a block of data is 
formatted into a graph, which can then be 
separately displayed, printed, or saved. 

It's a rare spreadsheet that has all these 
features. If you're looking for one, consider 
the features you need most when shopping. 
And if you already have one, review your 
manual, since there's often a way to perform 
a task with several commands in a row, if 
you can’t perform it with asingle command. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Spreadsheets 


By the Numbers 


by, Sherry Freedline 


How do Swiftcalc, Calc Il, Pocket Planner and 
geoCalc stack up against each other? Which 
program has the features you need to do what you 
want? Find out in this in-depth study of these four 


Recently, a message on a Commodore Bulletin 
Board (along witha gentle nudge from my editor) 
prompted me to investigate some of the 
spreadsheet programs still available for 
Commodore users. This search led to the 
discovery of four powerful programs: SwiftCale, 
geoCalc, Cale II, and Pocket Planner 2. It also led 
me to the conclusion that selecting a spreadsheet 
program best suited your needs can be a very 
tough decision. 

Let’s tackle this great dilemma by first 
considering a few questions. To start with, survey 
your equipment and your computing likes and 
dislikes such as: operating environment, input 
devices (joystick, mouse, or keyboard), and your 
preference in regards to accessing features via 
key-combinations or menus. Some of these 
programs also have individual versions available 
for the Commodore 128, Due to the 128’s extra 
memory and hardware, the 128 versions often 
contain added features like REU support, 
80-column display, and pull-down menus. Next, 
contemplate the projects you'd like to produce 
with the program. Willyouneed tocreate graphs, 
andifso, what kinds? Which types of calculations 
will you need to perform—mathematical, 
statistical, financial, scientific, and/or 
trigonometric? Also, do you want to combine 
data from a word processor or database program 
into your spreadsheet? (This latter feature allows 
data from another program to be incorporated 
into a spreadsheet without retyping it, saving 
time.) And finally, how does the program handle 
hard copies of your spreadsheet? Can it print 
large spreadsheets sideways? Doesit allow youto 
print grids, titles or alter margin settings? With 


COMMODORE WORLD 


hard-working eprograms.... 


these questions (hopefully) answered, let’s review 
the programs and put an end to this great 
dilemma. 


SwiftCalc 

The first program on my list is SwiftCale from 
Timeworks. Separate versions of SwiftCale were 
produced for the Commodore 64 and 128, but 
the 128 version has now become difficult to find— 
even in the used market. The 64 version ships 
with a 90 page User's Manual and a keyboard 
template. The 128 version includes a 168 page 
spiral bound User's Guide and has no need for a 
keyboard template due to its easy to use pull- 
down menu system. All that’s required to use 
SwiftCalc is a Commodore 64 or 128, a 
Commodore compatible 5 1/4" disk drive, and a 
Commodore compatible printer. The 128 version 
featuresan 80-column display, and thusit requires 
an 80-column monitor. 

While the screen displays of the two versions 
differ, both contain a filename box, message box, 
input box, cell contents area, cell contents type 
indicator (forindicating whether the cellis blank, 
contains a label, numeric value, or formula), 
cursor location indicator, Auto-Cale status 
indicator, and of course the worksheet area. As 
mentioned previously, the 128 version also 
featuresa very easy touse pull-down menusystem. 
In addition, the screen display colors in both 
versions can be easily changed to your liking. 

Worksheets created in the 64 version can 
contain up to 104 columns and 250 rows of data 
(26,000 cells), while the 128 mode allows for 250 
columns by 250 rows (62,500 cells) of data. 
SwiftCalc also providesa handy Auto-Calc option 


22 


which you switch between automatic or manual 
calculation. (The automatic calculation feature 
automatically recalculates your spreadsheet data 
after every new entry). Auto-Calc can slow down 
the worksheet creation process considerably, so 
it’s wise to turn it off until you've completed 
entering all the initial data into your worksheet. 
Once you've accomplished that, you can turn it 
back on to perform all the needed calculations. 

Simple bar graphs based on your data can also 
be created in both versions, Numeric cells can be 
converted to bars of asterisks representing each 
cell’s numeric value. SwiftCalc is such a powerful 
program that I was disappointed when I 
discovered that it didn’t have more advanced 
graphing features (such as pie charts and line 
graphs). 

Cell formatting options are vital to the 
appearance of your finished product. All 
spreadsheet programs allow the width ofa cell to 
be adjusted to compensate for the cell’s contents, 
and those contents can be justified to the left, 
right, or center. Numeric values can also include 


the following format options: commas, dollar 
signs, scientific notation, and up to nine decimal 
places. SwiftCale lacks a data sorting option, but 
it does include a time-saving find and replace 
feature. 


Aspreadsheet would belittle more than a word 
processing program without formula functions. 
SwiftCale contains functions to solve most 
common mathematical, statistical, and financial 
problems. With the IF.. THEN function, values 
may be includedin your worksheet depending on 
the outcome of a specific condition. However, if 
you havea need for trigonometric, scientific, and 


Issue 9 


in-depth financial formulas, SwiftCalcis definitely 
not the program for you. 

Of course, no spreadsheet program would be 
complete without print options. With SwiftCale, 
your spreadsheets may be printed directly from 
the program or through Sideways (a separate 
program solely devoted to the printing process). 
Printing options in SwiftCale include centering, 
compressed type, single-sheet paper feed, page 
numbering, margin settings, number of copies, 
formula printing, normal ASCII output (for 
non-Commodore printers), and range or entire 
worksheet output. 

Ifyour spreadsheet usesalotofcolumns, you'll 
definitely want to use the Sideways program. 
Sideways provides the ability to print your 
spreadsheets sideways. It also provides complete 
control over margins, and the spacing of lines 
and characters. Additional features let you to 
select a font and toggle double-strike mode. To 
do so, you must first create a Sideways file from 
within SwiftCalc. Be sure to save your spreadsheet 
to disk before creating this file, though, because 
once your file is in the Sideways format it can no 
longer be loaded into SwiftCale. Of all the 
spreadsheet programs I've looked at, SwiftCale 
provides the highest degree of control over printed 
output of your worksheet. 

SwiftCalc is also an excellent program for the 
average spreadsheet user. The inclusion of the 
Sideways program creates an almost unbeatable 
combination. Unfortunately, due to SwiftCale’s 
limited graphing and formula functions, many 
users will be forced to look for a more powerful 
spreadsheet program. But keep in mind that 
SwiftCalc’s Sideways program can be used with 
any spreadsheet program that can save its 


worksheets in ASCII format—a handy feature if 


you're not satisfied with the output from your 
current program. 


Pocket Planner 2 

Pocket Planner 2 is one of a trio of productivity 
programs developed by Digital Solutions, Inc. 
The other programs in this series are Pocket Filer 
and Pocket Writer (database and word processing 
programs, respectively). Pocket Planner is unique 
in that both the 64 and 128 versions are provided 
in one package—one on each side of the disk. The 
program can be used with a 1541, 1571 or 
compatible disk drives and a Commodore 
compatible printer. The 128 version of Pocket 
Planner 2 also supports using a joystick, mouse, 
and/or a Commodore (or compatible) RAM 
Expansion Unit (REU). Unlike most of the other 
programs coveredin this article—whose manuals 
were written in tutorial style—Pocket Planner 
2's manual is written more like a reference guide, 


Volume 2, Number 4 


The construction of the screen display enables 
novice spreadsheet users to get up and running 
quickly, At the top of the screen is a six line 
display of options and how to access them. Most 
choices are selected by first pressing the 
Commodore Key and then pressing the first letter 
of the desired options such as L for Load. Once 
you've familiarized yourself with accessing Pocket 
Planner’s commands, this help display can be 
turned off by pressing CONTROL H, allowing 
more room for the worksheet display. 

The worksheet area is located directly below 
the help area. As in most spreadsheet programs, 
the screen colors can be easily adjusted. In both 
modes, 250 rows and 250 columns or 62,500 cells 
are waiting to be used in your spreadsheets. The 
only differences between the 64 and 128 displays 
are 80 columns in 128 mode, along with a tad 
more color, Otherwise, both versions look the 
same. Finally, Pocket Planner offers a window 
feature that allows different portions of a 
spreadsheet to be viewed on the screen at the 
same time. You can open as many windows as 
will fit on your screen, and that will depend on 
the size of each individual window. 

One of Pocket Planner’s shining features is its 
ability to use spreadsheets created with other 
programs. These include spreadsheets created in 
Microsoft's Multiplan, SwiftCalc, andin the ‘Data 
Interchange Format’ (DIF) available in VisiCalc, 
Multiplan, and possibly some others. As far as | 
know, neither VisiCale nor Multiplan are still 
available, soit’s nice to know that ifyour program 
disks from either of these programs were to get 
lost or damaged, your data could be recovered 
using Pocket Planner. 

In my book, the ability to integrate with other 
productivity programs is a must, especially data 
from a database program. Pocket Planner 2 can 
load database files intoaspreadsheet from Pocket 
Filer; it can also read data from most any other 
database program which stores or exports its 
data in sequential “text” files. Spreadsheets and 
graphs created with Pocket Planner can also be 
used in Pocket Writer documents. 

AsaPCguru fora local bank, I'd belost without 
the ability to create graphs in various styles, With 
Pocket Planner 2 you aren't restricted to simple 
bar graphs. You can also produce line graphs and 
piecharts. And with the 128 version, you have the 
added option of creating X-Y and logarithmic 
graphs. And every one of these graphs can also be 
printed. 

Asfaras cell formatting options are concerned, 
Pocket Planner lacks the ability to format cells 
with scientific notation. Other than that, it 
contains all the same formatting options as 
SwiftCale including: center, right, and left 


23 


justification, decimal places from -15 (for zeroes 
to the left of the decimal) to 37, commas, dollar 
signs, percentages, parentheses (for negative 
values), and the ability to filla cell with acharacter. 

Pocket Planner also contains a handy sort 
routine for sorting data contained ina rectangular 
block of cells (range). This range can be sorted 
alphanumerically by column or row, in either 
forward or reverse order. Of course, learning how 
touse this feature can save you quite a bit of time. 

Another time saver is the Find and Replace 
command, which lets you easily locate specific 
data contained in your worksheets, and if 
necessary, replace each occurrence with 
something new. This can often reduce theamount 
of typing required for repetitive tasks. 

IfyouownaCommodore 128, you'lllove Pocket 
Plannerall themore. Pocket Planner wisely makes 
use of the 128’s additional memory by allowing 
multiple spreadsheet files to be storedin memory. 
This gives you the power to compare and even 
move data between the various worksheets. A 
press of the SHIFT and ALT keys toggles between 
the different spreadsheets stored in memory. The 
number of files you can have residing in memory 
at any one time depends on the size of the 
spreadsheets involved. 

REU owners will appreciate Pocket Planner 2’s 
ability to be used with Commodore’s 1700 or 
1750 RAM Expansion Unit (the 1750 Clone from 
SSI can also be used). The REU is used as a 
temporary “disk drive”, where you can store and 
retrieve files almost instantaneously. 

The 128 version also uses the 128’s 80-column 
display, showing you more ofyour spreadsheet at 
one time. Also unique to the 128 version is the 
ability to navigate the pull-down menus, move 
the worksheet cursor, and define ranges with a 
mouse or joystick. 

Now we come to the all important formula 
functions. If trigonometric functions are vital to 
your spreadsheets, Pocket Planner 2 is definitely 
the best program for you, It provides a whopping 
24 trigonometric formula functions—the widest 
selection of the four programs reviewed here. 
Mathematical, statistical, and scientific formula 
functions are also available for your use. And the 
program also contains a powerful IF...THEN 
conditional function allowing values to be 
included based on a particular condition. On the 
minus side, you'll notice the lack of any financial 
formula functions. 

Two print options are provided. The first, 
Simple Print, prints a single copy of the 
spreadsheet exactly asitis displayed on the screen. 
The second option lets you customize your 
printout. Here you have the choice of printing 
titles, boldfacing titles, printing sideways, 


COMMODORE WORLD 


selecting the pitch, lines per inch, and even the 
number of copies to be printed. Additionally, 
you may print the file to disk, permitting 
formatted spreadsheets to be saved for sending 
over a modem. But as you can see, there are no 
options for setting margins, compressing type, 
or selecting different fonts. 

Tosum itall up, [loved Pocket Planner 2. The 
program’s display is very appealing and easy to 
use. But most of all, Pocket Planner 2 outshines 
the rest with its graphing capabilities. Pocket 
Planner 2 would definitely be the perfect 
spreadsheet program if financial formula 
functions were added, But then, ifyou haven't the 
need for these types of formulas in your 
spreadsheets, then Pocket Planner 2isindeed the 
perfect spreadsheet program for you! 


Calc Il 

Cale I] is the third spreadsheet program in my 
investigation. This program is nolongeravailable 
commercially, but can be purchased directly from 
its author, David Pankhurst. Calc Il operates ona 
Commodore 64 (or 128 in 64 mode) equipped 
with a5 1/4" Commodore compatible disk drive 
and Commodore compatible printer. A 95 page 
User's Reference Guide accompanies the Cale II 
program disk. Of the four programs, Cale Il is the 
only program not available in a Commodore 128 
specific version. 

The first line of Calc II's screen display holds 
theedit mode flag, celladdress, availablememory, 
worksheet screen ID, and cell type flag, The second 
row is used for data entry. The rest of the screen 
is occupied by the worksheet area. Your screen 
display colors are easily configured with the 
function keys. Cale I] can hold up to 240 columns 
by 240 rows or 57,600 cells worth of data, just a 
bit less than the previous programs. 

Atfirst, Calc Il’sscreen may intimidate new users 
duetothelackofamenu. Allspreadsheet commands 
are accessed by pressing Shift/Control key 
combinations, so you'll want to keep your manual 
close at hand, The following item may or may not 
bother you depending on your past history with 
other spreadsheet programs; most spreadsheet 
programs use letters to identify columns and 
numbers to identify the rows. However, Cale I] 
reverses things by using numbers for the columns 
and letters for the rows. This is really no big deal 
especially ifyou've neverusedany other spreadsheet 
program. But for me, it seemed a little awkward. 
Calc II also makes use of a window or split screen 
display to enable distant portions ofa worksheet to 
be viewed simultaneously. Up to four windows (A- 
D) may be used at one time. And, like SwiftCale, 
Cale II offers an Auto-Calc feature to accelerate 
spreadsheet production. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Calc II's spreadsheet files are saved as program 
files. Therefore, Calc II does not have the ability 
to use spreadsheet files created with other 
programs which save their spreadsheet files as 
sequential files. 

Most of the programs I tested contained only a 
fewsample worksheet files on their program disks. 
Cale I] contains over 40 “Overlay files”. These 
overlays are great because they can be loaded and 
easily adjusted to suit your needs. Among these 
overlays are:a checkbook balancer, loan, mileage, 
mortgage, recipe, and sales slip worksheets. | bet 
you can put these to work right away! 

Graphs are not one of Calc II's strong points. 
Cale II will suit you just fine as long as your needs 
donot extend beyond bar graphs. Numeric values 
can easily be formatted asa bar graph by pressing 
CONTROL B, selecting the range, and pressing 
RETURN, The cell values will then be represented 
by a bar the same width as the cell's numeric 
value. 

Alimited supply of cell formatting options are 
available in Cale Il. The basic left, right, and 
center alignment optionsare present. But itwon't 
be long before you'll miss the ability to format 
cells with dollar signs, percentages, and commas 
along with a find and replace command, Cale II 
does provide the ability to format cells with 0 to 
14 decimal places and duplicate a chosen 
character across the width ofa cell. Additionally, 
Calc II does offer the time saving data sort feature. 

Calc I contains enough formula functions to 
meet the needs of most home users, You'll find a 
variety of formula functions to perform almost 
all routine mathematical, statistical, scientific, 
and trigonometric calculations. The powerful 
IF..VHEN function is also included. 
Unfortunately, Cale also lacks financial formula 
functions. 

One of the most important features of any 
spreadsheet program is its ability to provide a 
print out of your spreadsheet masterpiece. Cale II 
provides two options: Simplified Print and a 
Flexible Print, The Simplified Print is used to 
print spreadsheets in their entirety or any range 
of cells beginning at cell Al, The Flexible Print 
option is used to print ranges starting at cells 
other than Al. Both print options allow you to 
select margins, print type (condensed or elite), 
and the number of characters per line. If you are 
printing a spreadsheet wider than 80 columns, 
any data over this width will be moved to another 
page. 

Allinall, Cale Iisa great program for fulfilling 
your routine household needs. And thanks to all 
the fantastic overlay files includedon the program 
disk, you can quickly put all your affairs in order. 
Cale II's User's Reference Guide is very detailed 


24 


and even contains two chapters which walk you 
through the creation of a spreadsheet. The only 
downside is that it may take you a while to 
memorize all of the various key combinations for 
Cale II's spreadsheet commands. But, this 
problem can also be easily solved... remember 
Leroy’s Cheatsheets? A blank cheatsheet would 
be the perfect addition to Calc II. This keyboard 
overlay could easily be modified to contain 
references for all of Calc II's key combination 
commands. 


GeoCalc 

You may be wondering why I saved geoCale for 
last. Well, of the four programs, geoCale is the 
only program which doesn’t run straight from 
the disk. Of course, any GEOS user knows that 
geoCalc can only be run from the GEOS desktop. 
Both Commodore 128 and Commodore 64 
versions of geoCale are still obtainable. GeoCale 
requires a Commodore 64 or 128, GEOS V1.2 or 
lateror GEOS 128, anda 1541 or 1571 compatible 
disk drive. Optionally,a GEOS supported printer, 
RAM expansion unit, and a second disk drive, 
anda Commodore compatible mouse will greatly 
enhance your geoCalc performance. When used 
in combination with an REU, the geoCalc 
application is stored in the REU and frees the disk 
drive for your worksheet. 

This greatly enhances geoCalc’s operating 
speed. A mouse is also a nice addition to geoCale. 
It is much easier to define ranges and perform 
otherspreadsheet operations with the mouse than 
to remember the key combinations for the 
individual spreadsheet commands. A gray 9"x7" 
three ring binder lends a nice touch to the 
geoCalc’s tutorial-styled manual which contains 
a section devoted to walking you through the 
development ofa geoCale spreadsheet. 

The geoCale display colors can be customized 
through your GEOS desktop’s preference 
manager. These preferences are then carried 
through to your geoCale display. The display is 
similar to that of most GEOS applications. A 
menu bar is located at the top left of the screen 
and the title bar (displays title of the active 
spreadsheet) is located at the top right. 

A Turbo Scroll Icon (only in the 128 version) is 
located between the menu and title bars. The 
Turbo Scroll Iconis used to quickly scroll through 
a large area of your worksheet. Below the menu 
bar is the data entry area. To the right of the data 
entry section is the current cell indicator, and the 
Restore and Enter Icons. The Restore Icon 
resembles an X andisused to restore information 
last contained in the active cell before you began 
to edit the cell. The Enter Icon resembles a check 
mark and is used to enter changes to the active 


Issue 9 


cell. A split screen option is also possible with 


geoCalc. This option splits the screen in half 


horizontally, allowing two separate portions ofa 
worksheet to be viewed at the same time. 
However, only data in the active worksheet may 
be edited. By clicking on any portion ofthe second 
worksheet it can easily be made the activate 
worksheet. 

GeoCale is compatible with other Geos 
applications such as geoWrite and geoFile. Text 
scraps from any of these applications can be 
pasted intoa geoCale spreadsheet. Similarly, text 
scraps from geoCalccan be pasted intoa geoWrite 
document or a geoFile database. As you can see, 
this feature can greatly enhance your word 
processing and database capabilities and save 
you valuable time in the process. 

GeoCale worksheets limitations are 
considerably smaller than those of our other 
spreadsheet programs. GeoCalc data may be 
entered into 112 columns by 256 rows which 
adds up to 28,672 cells. And while we're on the 
subject of limitations, geoCalc does not have any 
provisions for creating graphs or toggling 
automaticcalculation. Nor does the program have 
the ability to sort or findand replace specific data 
within a worksheet. 

Cell formatting options are one of geoCalc’s 
outstanding features. Not only can cells be 
formatted for commas, decimals, dollars, 
parentheses for negative values and scientific 
notation, but you can also choose the style of the 
characters within the cell. Cell contents may be 
plain, italic, bold, or italic-bold text. This feature 
alone can really spruce up the appearance of your 
worksheet especially for titles and row/column 
headings. And of course, cell contents can be 
right, left, and center aligned. 

GeoCale 128 isn’t all that much different from 
geoCale 64. As previously mentioned the 128 
version features a Turbo Scroll Icon. This is 
certainly a handy feature, but not one | die 
without. Other than that, 128 users are treated to 
an 80 column display as well as the use of the 
numeric keypad. 

When it comes to formula functions, geoCale 
has an excellent selection. Formula functions are 
provided for mathematical, statistical, scientific, 


trigonometric, and yes finally, a nice selection of 


financial calculations! The only feature lacking is 
the If.. Then function which won't be missed all 
that much by most basic users. Of all four 
programs, geoCale provides the largest selection 
of financial functions for solving such problems 


as loan payments, present and future values of 


investments, along with interest rates, and 
investment terms. This feature alone may be 
enough reason to become a GEOS user. 


Volume 2, Number 4 


Another reason to become a GEOS user is 
geoCale’s print options. Once you've clicked on 
print, adialogue box appears in the center of your 
screen. From here, you have quitea few options at 
your fingertips, including: high, draft, or near 
letter quality print modes, the ability to print a 
range from cell x to cell y, single sheet or tractor 
feed, and printing grids and headings. 
Spreadsheets over 80 columns in size are printed 
on separate pages versus printing them sideways. 
I was impressed with the quality of my geoCalc 
spreadsheet print outs. 

I must confess, Lam not much of a Geos user 
and didn’t expect to be pleased with geoCale. 
However, for the purpose of this review, I thought 
I'd struggle through it. But, guess what? I really 
liked geoCale. It discovered it is very easy to use, 


and in combination with an easy to understand 
manual complete with a glossary of spreadsheet 
terms, [highly recommend it for new spreadsheet 
users. I was also surprised to discover that of all 
the programs tested, geoCale had the largest 
variety of formula functions. Ifonly geoCale could 
create graphs as well. 


Conclusion 

Well, we've reached the end of our available 
spreadsheet list. Hopefully, with all the above 
information, you've solved your dilemma ofwhich 
program best suits your requirements. To make 
things a bit easier, I've included a handy 
comparison chart. So for now, consider this case 
closed! 


%) 


Spreadsheets at a Glance 


Program Calc II 


Pocket 
Planner 2 


geoCalc SwiftCalc 


General Features 


128 Version 

Mouse support 

REU support 

Adjustable Colors 

Menu System 

Window Option 

Compatible With 

Other Spreadsheets 

Interface Ability N 
Worksheet Size Limit 57,600 
(max. number of cells) 


Graphs Bar 


Sort Option 
Find & Replace 


Ne 
N 
N 
\/ 
128 Vers. 


Y 
62,500 62,500 (128) 
26,000 (64) 

Bar graphs 
Line graphs 
Pie charts 
X-Y graphs 
Logaritmic 


Bar graphs 


Functions 


Mathematical 
Statistical 
Financial 
Trignometric 
Scientific 

lf. Then 


Printing Options 


Sideways 
Margins 

Fonts 

Type Attributes 
Print Grid Option 


25 


N 


N 
N 
Y 
Y 


COMMODORE WORLD 


HD- 40, 42 MB (Limited Supply) .. 
HD-85, 85 MB (Limited Supply) .. 
HD-170, 170 MB (Special Edition) 
HOD-340, 340 MB (Special Edition) 
HD-500, 500+ MB (Special Edition) 
HD-1000, us GB ss Ecition) 


FO-2000 (800K and 1.6 MB) 
FD-4000 (800K, 1.6 MB and 3.2 MB) .. 
FD Real-Time-Clock OptionKit 
Box of 10, High Density Disks (1.6MB) 
Box of 10, dead Density Disks (3.2 MB) . 


(Specity computer serial number and drive mndatj 
$49.95 
$59.95 


JittyYOOS C64/SX-64 System 
JittyDOS C-128/128-0 System 
Additional Drive ROM's ..... 

A er at 


bears sise tr 
80-column Monitors (Returb) 
Aprotek 3-Way User Port Expander 
Aprotek User Port Extension Cable . 
C-64/64-C Computers (Returb, w/JD) .. 
C-64, C-64C Power Supply (Repairable) ... 
C-128 Power Supply (Repairable) ... 
Cannon BJ-200ex Bubble Jet Printer teas 
Cannon BJC-4000 Color Bubble Jot Printer ...... 
Commodore 1541 Disk Drives (NEW, w/JD) ..... 
Commodore 1541 Disk Drives (Refurb, w/JD) ..... $75.00 
Commodore 1541-II Disk Drive (Refurb, w/JD) . $109.00 
Commodore 1802 40-column Monitor (Refurb) , $139.00 
CMD EX2+1 3-Port Cartridge Port Expander ...... $39.95 
CMD EX3 3-Port Cartridge Port Expander .......... $29.95 
CMD Gamepad/Joystick Controller 


. $24.95 
CMD GeoCable I! Print Cable 61t./15ft, .... $29,00/$34,00 
CMD SmartMouse (1351 Compatible Mouse) ..... $49.95 
CMD SmartTrack eae Compatible Uisranaaule $69.95 
Monitor Cables . CALL 
Mouse Pad....... $2.95 
MW-350 Printer Interface (OK/8K Bulfer) $49 00/$60. 00 
Samsung SP-0912 9-pin Epson-comp. Printer ..... $139,00 
Samsung SP-2412 24-pin Epson-comp. Printer ... $179.00 
Samsung SP-2417 iat el Color Printer .. 249. 
[3 


Big Bluo Reader V4.10  (SOGWAPY 
CMD Utilities .. 

JilfyMON-64 (ML Monitor)... 
The Compression I Kit ‘94 (Mad Man) .. 


Collette Utilities (Handy Geos Utilities) 
Oesk Pack Plus .. 

Oweezils Greatest Hits (NewToois2, Sump, Labelt28) $30.00 
FONTPACK Plus « $25.00 


gateWay 64 or 128 (Speci iy Version ; $29.95 
QeoBASIC .......... . $20.00 
gooCale 64/128... . $40,00/$45.00 
geoChart . .. $29,00 
geoFax .. . $39.95 
geoFile 64/128 - a $40.00/$45.00 
geoMakeBoot (Makes ‘Bootable copies) $12.95 


geoProgrammer . 

geoPublish 

GEOS 64 v2.0. 

GEOS 128 v2 0. 

geoSHELL V2.2 (CLI tor GEOS) 
International FONTPACK 
Perfect Print LQ for GEOS (Laser-like output) 
RUN GEOS Companion 
RUN GEOS Power Pak | or Il (Specify) .. 


Anatomy of the 1541... 
Basic Compiler Design for the fon 64. 
C-64 Science & Engineering 

C128 Computer Aided Design 
€128 BASIC Training Guide 


Cassette Book for C-64 and Vic 20 $12.00 
Commodore 64 Tricks and Tips ...... $12.00 
GEOS Programmers Reference Guide .. $35.00 
Graphics Book for the C-64 ..... $12.00 
Hitchhikers Guide to GEOS .., $35.00 
Idoas for Use on Your C64 i. cccsseseseseeseneeeee $12.00 
Printer Book for the C64 $12.00 


Mapping the C64 
Simple Internet 
Superbaso - THe SOK 


Handyscanner 
Pagefox .......... 


ChaD 


COMMODORE WORLD 


P.O. Box 646 


| Fortran 64 (Abacus) .. 


~ Superbase 128 Version 3.01 (Precision) .. 
. SwiftCalc 64 (Timeworks) 


Creative Micro Designs, Inc. 


East Longmeadow, MA 01028 


Werwacwod RAM) Disc 


RAMLink Base Model (OMB, No RAMCard) ..... $149.00 
RAMLink w/t MB RAMCard (Limited Time) ~., $199.00 


HtfyDOS 


RAMLInk w/4 MB RAMCard (Limited Time) ... $339.00 % whil 

RAMCard RTC Optiorn/Kit $10,00/$19.00 Increase Speed Up to Mien sh h sd 

RAMLink Battery Back-up (Optional) $24.95 retaining 100% compatibility 
Parallel Cable AM Seon to HD) $14.95 


° Speeds up Loading, Saving, Verifying, Formatting and Reading/ 
Writing of Program, Sequential, User and Relative files unlike 
cartridges which only speed up Loading and Saving of PRG files 


alee Ri) 


Digimaster ... « $34.95 


SID Symphony Stereo Cartridge | i «$44.95 
Sonus 64 Sequencer, MIDI Interface, Cables .....$99.00 * Built-in DOS Wedge plus 17 additional features including file 


Sonus 128 Sequencer, MIDI interlace, Cables ... $99.00 copier, text dump, printer toggle, and redefinable function keys 


make using your computer easier and more convenient 


BASIC 64 Compiler (Abacus) 00 « ROMupgrade installs easily into most computers and disk drives. 
Bel Ge Comber (eivice) » $26.00 Supports C-64, 64C, SX-64, C-128, 128-D, 1541, 1541C, 
Blitz! 128 Compiler (Skylos) 1541-11,1571, 1581 and more. 


Buddy 64/128 Assembler 
Cobol 64 (Abacus) .... 


FDSeries 


= 3.2 and 1.6 MB 3.5" Floppy Drives 
The FD-2000 and FD-4000 disk drives utilize 


Pascal 64 (Abacus) 
Power C 64 (Spinnaker) .. 


Cadpak 64 (Abacus) 


Capa Kr rps bene today’s latest 3.5 inch disk drive technology. 
artpal cus) ‘0° FD-2000's support 800K (1581 style) and 
Cha k 128 (Ab; $25.00 , 3 9 

plore oe pacus) 00) (tne Prost $39.00 1-6 MB (High Density) formats, while the 


FD-4000 also offers support for the 3.2 MB (Enhanced Density) 
disk format. Fast and reliable, they support 1541, 1571 and 1581 
style partitions, Native Mode partitioning and can actually read and 
write 1581 disks. FD's feature built-in JiffyDOS, SWAP button and 
optional Real Time Clock. High capacity, speed and compatibility 
make the FD right for every application, including GEOS. 


Power-Backed Expandable REU 


The fastest possible form of storage, 
RAMLIink provides instant access to files 
and retains data while your computer is 
turned off, Easy to use and expandable up 
to 16 MB, RAMLink utilizes the same powerful operating system 
found in CMD Hard Drives. Unlike Commodore REU's which are 
compatible with less than 1% of commercial software, RAMLink 
supports more than 80% of the commercial titles. RAMLink also 
offers built-in JiffyDOS Kernal, SWAP feature, reset button, enable/ 
disable switch, pass-thru port and RAM port for REU/GEORAM use. 
RAMLink offers maximum speed, expandability and compatibility 
with all types of software and hardware including GEOS. 


HDSeries. 
SCSI Hard Drive for the C-64/128 
SwiftLink RS-232 Cartridge (Up to 38 aK baud) .. 


HD Series Hard Drives are available in 
SwittLink Modem Cable (OB9-DB25) ........ssecereeree ae capacities up to 1 GB, are fully partitionable, 
and can emulate 1541, 1571, & 1581 disks 
while Native partitions utilize MS-DOS-style 
subdirectories. HD’s connect easily to the serial bus or parallel via 
RAMLink. Includes built-in JiffyYDOS, SWAP feature and RTC. HD's 
offer superior compatibility with most commercial software including 
BBS, Productivity and GEOS, And with new pricing, HD Series drives 


| Port v1.54 (128, 80-col., 64K VOC) (Living Proof) .. 
Outrageous Pages (Batteries Included) 
PaperClip 3 64/128 (Batteries Included) 
Personal Portfolio Manager (Abacus) 
Pocket Writer 2 (64) (Digital Sol.) ... 
Pocket Writer 3 (64 or 128) (Digital Sol.) es 
Pocket Planner 2 or Pocket Filer 2 iain Sol. ie 
PowerPlan 64 (Abacus) .. ~$ 
RUN Productivity Pak |, Ml, Spocity : 
RUN Super Starter Pak 1541 or 1581 ... 
RUN Works .......... ‘ 
SEC Check Register 128... 
SuperScript 64 (Precision) . 
SuperScript 128 (Precision) .. " 
Suberbase 64 Version 3.01 (Precision) . 


SY 


Tax Perfect 64 (Free ‘94 Upgrade) 
Tax Perfect 128 (Free ‘94 Upgrade) .. 
TWS 64 w/Speller (Busy Bee) ............. 
TWS 128 w/Spelier (Busy Bee) ........ 
TWS Modules (HD/RUIlustrator) ...... 
= apes 
Aprotek MiniModem C-24 (C= ready, 2400 baud) $69.00 
Aprotek MiniModem C (C= ready, 1200 baud) .... $50.00 
Aprotek Modem adapter (C= to Ext. PC Modem) $20.00 
BOCA 2400 Baud Modem 
BOCA 2400 w/SwiltLink and Cable 
BOCA 14.4K bps FaxModem 
BOCA 14.4K w/SwiftLink & Cable ..., 
BOCA V.34 28.8K bps FaxModem . 
BOCA V.34 w/SwiftLink & Cable 
Dialogue 128............ 
SpeedTerm (Abacus) .. 


“each $5.00 


Atomino .. 
Ballistix... 
Blood Money . 
Chomp! 
Day in the Life of Prehistoric Man .. 
Escape Route .. 


Heavenbound .. $19.95 s 
Island of the Dragon .. $19.00 Offer the lowest cost per megabyte of any C64/128 storage device. 
Laser Squad : 


Lions of the Universe | 
Mainframe ..... 


Shipping and Handling Charges 


Menace ..... ; Use the chart below to match your order subtotal with your shipping zone and method. 
Navy Seal ..... i 

Rings of Modusa is $16.00 So United States 

rN Cie rp: e199 pees bel 1S [alee 

RUN C64 Gamepak $15.00 then 

Skato OF Die so. $13.00 Ci yee See ee ee 

The Amazing Spider-Me $15.00 

The President Is Missing! $10,00 

The Three Stooges $10.00 

Tie Break Tennis ...... 


Total Eclipse ..... 
Ultima Vo... 
Wings of Circe .. 
Wizardry 5: Heart of the Maelstrom ... 


UPS C.0.D, add $5.00 (U.S/PR only) 


Payment and Delivery: CMD accepts MC, Visa, Money Orders, COD and Personal 
Checks, Personal Checks are held for up to 3 weeks, Most items are stock, contact CMD 
for current delivery schedules. Returns for merchandise credit only within 30 days with 
prior authorizations. All prices and specifications are subject to change without notice 


Info: (413) 525-0023 
Fax: (413) 525-0147 


26 Issue 9 


fy DO$§ <= {(\h Anniversary Sale-t-bration 


* An easy to install ROM chip upgrade for your 
computer and disk drive 

* Increases speed of all disk operations up to 1500% 

Provides a built-in, easy-to-use DOS wedge with 17 

additional JiffyDOS commands 

Versions available for all Commodore 64 and 128 

computers and serial disk drives 


* Built-in two drive file copier works with all drives 
and file types 


* Compatibility guaranteed or your money back 


What Is JiffyDOS? 

JiffyDOS is a Disk Operating System (DOS) enhancement which 
gives your C64 or C128 the disk access speed it has always needed. 
A chip-for-chip replacement for the Kernal ROM in your computer 
and the DOS ROM in your disk drive(s), JiffyDOS achieves levels of 
performance and compatibility unmatched by other disk speed- 
enhancement products. Outstanding speed, solid compatibility with 
virtually all hardware and software, and a new set of desperately- 
needed commands and features give your system the power to 
compete with today’s newer, more-expensive machines. 

JiffyYDOS should not be confused with Cartridges, Turbo ROMs, 
Burst ROMs or “Parallel” systems. Ultra-high-speed multi-line serial 
technology enables JiffyDOS to outperform these products without 
any of their inherent disadvantages. JiffyDOS leaves all ports on 
your computer open, works with virtually all software, speeds up 
PRG, SEQ, REL and USR files, and does not require any extra 
cabling. In short, JiffyDOS is working whenever your computer 
accesses your disk drive. 


For ordering and shipping information, please refer to our main ad 
on the adjoining page. You must request this special offer at the 
time you place your order. This offer may not be combined with any 
other offer. 


Need Input? It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This... 


* Three buttons means convenience! If you’re a GEOS user, the left 
button is configured as single click, the right as a handy double 
click and the center button is the TURBO button. When depressed, 


For years, Commodore set the standard with the 1351 
Mouse. Sure, it was vastly superior to using the old 
digital input devices like the 1350 mouse, joysticks or 
imitation trackballs. But everything can be improved. 
Guaranteed 100% 1351-compatible, SmartMouse and 
SmartTrack do everything the C-1351 does and more! 
These highly intelligent, three-button input devices 
include a built-in battery-backed Real-Time Clock, 
along with double-click and Turbo features for GEOS. 
Plus, they come with a complete set of utilities for using 
the clock in GEOS and BASIC applications. Modern 
ergonomic designs make these devices smooth 
operators that are a pleasure to use. So, if you're tired 
of the slow, erratic movement of your current input 
device, make the intelligent choice and pick up a 
SmartMouse or SmartTrack today! 


SmartMouse and SmartTrack... the Best C-64/128 Input Devices Ever! 


* SmartMouse/SmartTrack utilize the same advanced technology used 
in today’s powerful 486 and Pentium PC’s, providing you with 
unparalleled accuracy and smoothness. 


it doubles the speed at which the pointer moves across the screen. .  gyilt-in battery-backed Real-Time Clock automatically sets the GEOS 


Additionally, programmers can assign their own functions to all 
three of the buttons. 


* Unlike other third party mice or trackballs, the CMD SmartMouse 


clock, displays time and can be used 


in your own programs. 


* Includes utilities disk and detailed manual explaining the utilities 


and programming information. 


and SmartTrack trackball use the same custom gate array chip as. attention Lefties! SmartMouse can be altered for left handed use. 


the Commodore C-1351 mouse. This guarantees 100% compatibility. 


* Switches easily into joystick emulation mode on power-up by 
holding down the right button. 


Volume 2, Number 4 


greater accuracy. 


27 


* Don't be fooled by the old style digital "trackballs". These only 
perform as well as a joystick. SmartTrack uses analog inputs for 


COMMODORE WORLD 


CKit 94; $39.95; by Mad Man Software 
1400 E, College Dr. Cheyenne, 
Wyoming 82001. Also available from 
CMD. 


“Snakes. Why'd it have to be 
snakes?” The line from /ndiana Jones 
Raiders of the Lost Ark runs through 
my mind everytime I see the the 
manual cover for The Compression 
Kit, witha Boa Constrictorsqueezing 
a disk drive. CKit 94’s snake is a 
gentle, friendly snake. It doesn't 
squeeze too hard, but considering 
its other virtues one can almost 
overlook that the compression of 
files isn’t as tight as less-friendly 
utilities. Given the care that has gone 
into creating a system to backup 
important data, you could almost 
say the snake hugs your data instead. 


The Compression Kit includes: 


Filemaster - used to copy, delete or 
move files, 

Procopy - disk copier. 
Archiver-combinesand compresses 
multiple files into single or multiple 
files. 

Boa utilities - compresses entire 
1541, 1571 or 1581 style disks into 
single or multiple files. 

CMD Native Boa-compresses entire 
CMD native partitions into single or 
multiple files. 


Each ofthe compression utilities will 


COMMODORE WORLD 


CHit 94 


Mad Man’s Backup & Compression Utility 


decompress its own type of 


compressed file. A utility to convert 
archive files into self-dissolving 
“MAD” files is also included. A 
separate program, “Decomper”, 
comes with the system and can be 
uploaded to bulletin boards or given 
to other users. It allows those who 
don’t own the CKit to dissolve files 
created with it. 

CKit 94 is a power users utility 
package. It works with any CMD 
storage device (like HD hard drives, 
RAMLink or FD drives), PPI's 
RAMDrive, all Commodore disk 
drives or 17xx REU’s (even expanded 
ones) and the CLD Super 1750 
Clone. It's not for users with a single 


1541 disk drive without any form of 


RAMexpansion, Themore RAM you 
have, the faster and easier CKit 
operates. When installed on a CMD 
device or RAMDriveit returns to the 
partition it was loaded from to load 
in different utility modules. 
Installing CKit on a CMD device is 
as easy as copying it to a partition, 

CKit operates only in C64 mode, 
but 128 users have an advantage 
since it will use the 128’s VDC RAM 
(16k or 64K), It can also be set to 
kick into 2 Mllz mode on 128 
computers during compression 
operations to get the job done 
quicker; but due to the way 
Commodore serial routines work, it 
must revert back to 1 MHz foractual 
disk operations. 


For copying and compression use 
CKit will use any RAM enabled in 
the setup menu, allowing expanded 
REUs to use all available RAM for 
operation and uses RAMLink or 
RAMDrive DACC partitions in the 
same manner, up to the limit of 16 
megabytes. The REU is not used asa 
disk device, but instead is utilized 
for memory during copy and 
compression functions. 

Each time youstart CKit, itchecks 
the system for the Security Key (a 
dongle which fits into joystick port 
#1), determines which type of 
computer it’s being used on (64 or 
128), then checks for available RAM 
devices. The opening menu includes 
a “Settings” option to select screen 
blanking (2 MHz mode), and to set 
preferences for the type of RAM it 
willuse. From the Settings menu the 
available RAM (REU, DACC, VDC 
or 64/128) can be tested to ensure 
integrity. Warnings are given before 
the test begins, as this will wipe out 
any data currently residing in the 
RAM. 


Backup Utilities 

CKit appears quite able to handle 
any style of backup needs a user 
might have. Each of the utilities 
contain an option to toggle 
verification checks for the process of 
copying, compression — or 
decompression of files. Verification 
slows down the backup process, but 


28 


gives peace of mind by double 
checking the data. For day to day use 
it may never be needed; but for 
important data, it’s worth the extra 
time spent to ensure reliablity. 

CKit provides two different file 
naming methods when compressing 
data. The first isCBM style, allowing 
up to 12 characters for each file 
name. CKit adds an extention to 
whatever name you provide to 
designate the type of archive. 
Filenames are padded out with 
spaces tothe Commodore maximum 
of 16 characters. The second file 
naming method limits you to eight 
characters forthe filename and three 
for the extention (which CKit adds 
automatically depending on the 
archive type) to provide names 
which are acceptable to MS-DOS 
Bulletin Board Systems. 


Filemaster 

Making a copy of one or more files 
so you can have duplicates available 
for immediate use can be easily 
accomplished using CKit’s 
Filemaster utility. Files are first 
copiedinto RAM, then copied to the 
destination disk or partition. 
Filemaster’s copy and move features 
will let you automatically skip or 
replace files if a file with the same 
name already exists on the 
destination disk; you can also ask 
the user what to do with each 
duplicateit finds. Files “Moved” with 


Issue 9 


CKit are first copied to the selected 
destination, verfified against the 
original (ifverify is toggled on), then 
finally deleted from the source. 


Procopy 

This utility is used to backup (copy) 
whole disks. During copy process, 
Procopy reads as many disk tracks 
as will fit into available RAM, then 
copies them to the destination 
device. If the entire disk you're 
copying will fit into memory, 
Procopy asks if another copy of the 
same disk is desired; if you answer 
yes, then all subsequent copies are 
made directly from RAM. 


Archiver 

Used to backup files or disks that 
don't need to be immediately 
available—or to create a backup of 
large storage devices like RAMLink, 
RamDrive ora CMD hard drive. The 
Archiver combines and compresses 
mulitple files, plus allows a block 
limitation to be placed on the size of 
the backupfiles. This allows multiple 
disks to be used when backing up 
large amounts of data. The limits 
range from 100 to 1,000 disk blocks 
or “None” (such as when the size of 
the archive isn’t important). The 
Archiver only compressesindividual 
filesandis recommended over using 
thedisk Boasbecauseits compressed 
files are usually smaller and the 
process takes less time. When files 
are decompressed the user has the 
option to skip, replace or be asked 
about like-named files that already 
exist on the destination. 


The Boa Utilities 

These utilities compress entire disks, 
CMD disk emulation partitions, or 
CMD Native partitions by track and 
is useful for making backups of 
specialized disks or partitions. This 
can be a disadvantage if the source 
hasalotofemptyblocksorscratched 
files, since each disk track is read, 
compressed and added to the 
archive, regardless of whether it’s in 
current use. The Boa utilities also 
allow a size limit so that multiple 
disks can be used when backing up 
larger capacity disks or partitions to 


Volume 2, Number 4 


lower capacity devices. For the CMD 
Native Boa the destination size 
ranges from 100 to 20,000 disk 
blocks in increments of 100. When 
decompressing Boas, warning is 
given that anything currently on the 
destination disk or partition will be 
deleted. The process can be aborted 
at this stage. 


Sharing Files or Disks 
with Others 

Since the Decomper program can 
be freely distributed, Mad Man 
Software encourages Ckit owners to 
provide it when distributing 
compressed files 
telecommunications services or 
within user group libraries. The self- 
dissolving MAD files created with 
CKit also 
encouraged for 
sharing files 
with others. 
Decomper 
and CKit are 
menu driven 
and easy to 
use, so it’s 
likely to be 
used for these 
purposes. I've 
used it to 


on 


are 


a 
V. 


send files to others and felt 
comfortable knowing that they 
would havea true copy of what I was 
sending. Modem users often call 
long distance for files and prefer files 
which are compressed tighter than 
CKit currently allows, but CKit's 
reliablity and ease of use should be 
considereda plus. Ifthe file becomes 
corrupted during the download, the 
user is told before the files are 
decompressed. The CKit is equally 
suited for mailing disks with Boas or 


y KUL: 

CON 

Qrw © 
\ aad 


Archives due to its verification of 
files. In fact, the original intent of 
the software was for Mad Man’sown 
programmers to have a way to send 
each other programming files which 
were guaranteed to be exact 
duplicates of the originals. 


In Practical Use 
I've used the Archiver to combine 
text files that seem to collect on my 
disks the same way some people have 
coat hangers multiply in their 
closets; I've used it for the purpose of 
backingupmy CMD devices. Ifound 
using the Archiver to be the fastest 
method for both backing up and 
restoring data. When I backed up 
my hard drive, I had one very large 
Native mode partition with many 
subdirectories onitas wellas 
several disk emulation 


CUS 


partitions. 
Instead of using the 
Boa utility for the Native directory | 
used the Archiver to create 
compressed files ofthe Rootand each 
subdirectory. |alsoused the Archiver 
for my disk emulation partitions, 
selectingall the filesin each partition. 
When I named the archives, | used 
names which would let me know 
where the files within belong, such 
as ‘Lutils’ tells me the files within 
belongin partition#1, in theutilities 
subdirectory. I used the same 
technique recently with my 


29 


RAMLink, and then completely 
erased the contents of it so I could 
rearrange the partition sizes. It took 
less time to restore my files than it 
hasusing any othermethod I've used 
in the past. 

I've found the archiver useful for 
moving a lot of small files, such as 
Print Shop graphics, from a slower 
device (likea 1541) tomy hard drive. 
Since I had several 1541 disks with 
these graphics, | compressed the 
contents of each disk in one session 
to archives on my hard drive. As | 
dissolved the files, | opted to skip 
any duplicated file names. | didn’t 
have the patience to test my theory, 
but I'm positive this took much less 
time than it would have to copy the 
files individually while skipping like 
named files. 

The “Move” files feature is 
something I find I use often, and 
miss in other copy programs since it 
saves me the step of deleting the files 
after copying them, if this was my 
intention. 

CKitalso gives access to 1581 style 
subpartitions, which I found useful 
for getting my data out of these 
subpartitions and onto my hard 
drive instead. I found that if I 
loaded CKit while [ had a 
partitioned 1581 disk in the drive 
(with a partition active instead of 
the root directory) that CKit would 
crash as soon as I tried to select 
the disk drives to use. The solution 
was to load CKit without a disk in 
the drive and then inserting it 
prior to selecting drives. 


Grumbles 

Powerhasa price. Mad Man appears 
to know the value of a good thing 
and has protected CKit in a 
manner that makes it easy to copy 
the system onto other drives—but 
without the Security Key, the 
program will not operate 
correctly. Considering the amount 
of work that has gone into this 
utility, it may be the only way for 
the Mad Man to receive fair 
compensation for their efforts; but 
some users will likely refuse to buy 
the software because a security 
dongle is required. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


The previous version of the 
Compression Kit had complaints 
aboutits speed of operation; but with 
CKit 94’s use RAM and the 128’s 2 
MHz mode for compression 
routines, this complaintis no longer 
valid. CKit 94 is much faster than 
previous version. Unfortunately, 
files compressed with the earlier 
version cannot be decompressed 
with the newer one. This wasn't 
mentioned in the updated 
documentation, and should have 
been. 

The Decomper program is a 
means of showing what the CkKit 
system is like to those who don't 
have it. Unfortunately, it doesn't 
use some of CKit’s finest features 
such as using REU or DACC 
partitions for faster operation, It 
operates in 64 mode without the 
added benefits that CKit gives 128 
owners. I'm grateful that Decomper 


Karma V1, by Brett J. Tabke: PHD 
Software Systems, Box 23, Moville 
IA, 51039-0023. Suggested list 
$59.95 (plus $15 shipping). 


Karma is a fast and full-featured 
macro assembler for — the 
Commodore 128 only. It shares 
many operational features with an 
earlier assembler, Buddy, in that it 
allows source code to be stored in 
either program or sequential files. 
Karma is especially rich in the types 
of labels (symbols) that are allowed. 
Karma hasa few syntax oddities that 
may take some time to get used to, 
but most programmers will find its 
environment familiar. 

It's good to see a new assembler 
forthe Commodore 8 bit computers. 
The older ones, such as PAL, 
BUDDY, and Commodore's original 
Developer's package (HCD) were 


COMMODORE WORLD 


exists, but I feel it doesn’t do the 
commercial program justice. 

Since the utility to create self 
dissolving .MAD files works only 
on archived files which are 192 
blocks or less, | find it frustrating 
that there isn’t an option in the 
Archive utilities to limit the size 
of the archives to match this size. 
Users can elect either 100 or 200 
disk blocks as the limits and hope 
for the best if they choose to use 
the 200 block limit. 

As previously mentioned, the 
compression of files still leaves 
something to be desired; but in 
backing up graphic files CKit 
surprised me by compressing the 
already tightly compressed Fun 
Graphics Machine “Clip Art” files. 
Accuracy over compression has been 
the theme of both versions of CKit 
that I've used, and to this end, it does 
as it claims. 


My last grumble is my biggest. I 
like the CKit and I have several things 
I'd still like to see implemented 
that | think would benefit many 
users, especially where the 
Filemaster utility is concerned. 

I was disappointed when I read 
in Commodore World’s Issue #5, 
“Mad Man Update” that this is 
expected to be the last release of 
the CKit. As it stands, the system 
is excellent for power users who 
want to back up their hard drives 
and RAMLinks. I'd like to see it 
push the envelope a little further, 
though, and combine features 
which are available in CMD's 
FCOPY+ program, such as the 
ability to rename files, create and 
remove subdirectories, make use 
of selective directories, and or use 
the real time clocks (RTC’s) in 
CMD devices when listing files for 
processing. 


A New Assembler for the Commodore 128 


getting hard to find. And the arrival 
ofa new product isa reassuring sign 
that these machines are still viable. 

Traditional assembler systems 
comein two chunks: an editor, where 
you prepare your source program; 
and an assembler, which translates 
it into working code. The 
Commodore HCD works this way, 
and though it is slow, it is capable of 
assembling huge programs. 

PAL takes a different approach: 
let the built-in Basic system be your 
editor so that the assembler can pick 
up the code directly (in “tokenized” 
Basic) and do the job quickly. The 
BUDDY system allows you to use 
either or both methods; so does 
KARMA. Itmight have been nice for 
the KARMA package to include a 
sequential editor, but that’s no 
problem for most users: good editors 
such as ZED128 can readily be used. 


The Package 
KARMA comesasasingle 5-1/4 inch 


disk, plus a spiral-bound manual of 


approximately 70 pages. The disk is 
non-protected, and the wise user will 
start by making an archival backup. 
The disk contains not only KARMA, 
but also a disassembler called 


UNKARMA, UNKARMA will be of 


limited use to most users. The disk 
contents are carefully sized so that 
its contents can be read ona 1541, in 
case the purchaser does not have a 
1571. 
Themanualisthoughtfully written. 
It compares KARMA characteristics 
with that ofotherassemblers, without 
boasting of KARMA’s superiority. It 
comes with an appendix and index to 
help the reader find a specific subject. 
And many programmers will like the 
spiral binding, which allows the 
document to lie flat on a desk. 


30 


Also very high on my list is the 
ability to extract single files from 
an archive. CKit allows the user to 
view the files in archives and this 
would be a logical place to add the 
ability to highlight a filename and 
have it be extracted. | hope that 
perhaps Mad Man Software can yet 
be persuaded to continue their 
efforts with this utility. 


Wrap Up 
While it may not compress files as 
other utilities might, CKit’s user 
friendliness makes it much easier 
touse than any other compression 
or backup utility available. It’s 
meticulous in creating acurate 
archives and copies. When it comes 
to backing up important data or 
storage devices like a hard drive, 
accuracy is a must, and this is what 
Ckit delivers. 

- Gaelyne R, Moranec 


I wish the manual started with a 
walk-through for the beginner. It's 
reassuring to be invited to install the 
assembler, write a few lines of code, 
assemble them, and then see the 
results. It's alsoa good way toensure 
that your program has arrived in 
good order. 

The documentation is quite 
readable; headings are underlined 
and bold-face type is used where 
appropriate, A minor annoyance 
occurs near the beginning: a couple 
of example lines start with ‘ex:’, 
apparently meaning ‘example’; the 
user should not type this in, just the 
rest of the line. 


Installation and Setup 

KARMA will install itselfinto a high 
area of Bank 1, and will stay there 
until the 128 is reset or powered 
down. When you want KARMA to 


Issue 9 


go to work, a SYS command will fire 
itup. Meanwhile, you can run other 
Basic programs as usual; KARMA 
will have no effect on them. 

To do an assembly, you must 
load some Basic code. This must 
include a SYS call to crank up 
KARMA. The code loaded into 
memory might also include your 
source program, but your source 
code can remain on disk if you 
wish. Such a code may be called in 
by using directive ‘file’ (for Basic- 
style files), or *.seq’ (for sequential 
text files). You can call in multiple 
files this way, so that your program 
can be written as a series of files. 
There are provisions here for using 
the 128’s burst mode loading, which 
will greatly speed up disk file reading. 

There’s a rich set of other 
directives. Conditional assembly 
uses an if.. else .. endif structure, 
and the “.if options cover not only 
true or false, but also whether a 
symbol has been declared or not. 
‘If structures do not nest, but 
that’s not hard to get around. 
Macros don’t nest either, but they 
are set up flexibly with multiple 
parameter passing. Oddly, the 
Karma group. state in the 
documentation that they don’t 
like macros and never use them! 
Many other directives are available; 
for example, the offset directive ‘off 
allows you to generate code that will 
be moved to a location other than its 
original load address. 


Gaps and Oddities. 

The assembler does not support 
logical operators such as AND and 
OR (the Op Codes AND and OR are 
there, of course). These operators 
are rarely used, but can be needed 
on occasion. For example, if you 
wanted to move the assembly point 
to the start of the next memory 
page—perhaps to set upa table that 
fitsentirely on one page—you might 
want to performacalculation similar 
to this: 


ProgramCounter= (ProgramCounter 
+255) AND SFFOO 


Ican’tseea way todothisin KARMA. 


Volume 2, Number 4 


An interesting innovation in 
KARMA isthe way it treats operands 
that start with any of the symbols: 
“<‘ (low byte), ‘>’ (high byte), ""” (Pet 
Ascii), or ‘@’ (Screen Ascii). These 
all trigger immediate-mode 
addressing. Such expressions 
would normally need to start with 
the ‘#’ character to signal this, and 
KARMA allows you to code it this 
Way, too. 

Many programs have crashed 
because a programmer forgets to 
include that immediate character; 
the KARMA syntax will save a lot 
of this. My personal preference 
would be to get a warning message 
when the ‘#’ was left out; KARMA 
just goes ahead and assumes 
immediate mode. 

One oddity of this scheme is that 
LDA "a"+1_ will generate code 
different from that of LDA 
l+"a" ..ifthe special symbol 
doesn’t start the operand field, 
immediate mode will not be 
triggered. Adding the ‘#’ 
character will fix everything, of 
course. 

There are minor format 
anomalies. For example, ROL 
(Rotate Left) ofthe A register must 
be coded as ROL alone. ‘ROL A’ 
doesn’t work. Messages can be sent 
tothe screen during the assembly 
process, but the ‘.msg’ 
commands don’t automatically 
terminate with a RETURN; you 
have to code this in manually. 


Symbols and Labels 

KARMA is generous in its 
allowance of symbol/label 
formats and types. Symbols such 
as ‘the.secret.number. of.karma’ 
are problem, although 
programmers tend to stay clear of 
very long symbols for fear of 
writer's cramp. KARMA also has 
a good set of temporary 
symbols, popular for coding 
short branches and tiny loops. 


no 


These come in two styles: the 
plus and minus symbols (branch 
ahead to the next plus symbol; 
branch back to the last previous 
minus symbol), and the ‘lira’ 
symbols. 


You might think of the ‘Lira’ 
symbol as that used for British 
“pounds” currency. Whatever you 
call it, it helps to define 
temporary labels that can be used 
in a local area of the code. You 
may across other 
assemblers which use similar 
schemes with the dollars symbol, 
for example, local labels called 3$ 
and 5$. 

As the manual correctly points 


have run 


out, you can’t start a line with a 
numeric character when you're 
working in the Basic editor, and a 
numericstarting witha dollarsymbol 
would be taken as a hexadecimal 
value. So, the Lira was substituted, 
anditseemsto work well when there 
are no coding errors. When such 
errors occur, the assembly 
output 
confusing; perhaps the symbol 
table gets muddled. 


and reports are 


The Disassembler 
The UNKARMA 
assembler seems to me to be of 


reverse 


RMJAN88 January 1988 
RMFEB88 February 1988 
RMMAR88 March 1988 
RMAPR88 April 1988 
RMMAY88 May 1988 
RMJUN88 June 1988 
RMJUL88 July 1988 
RMFEB89 February 1989 
RMMAY89 May 1989 
RMJUN89 June 1989 
RMJUL89 July 1989 
RMAUG89 August 1989 
RMSEP89 September 1989 


CW1 Issue 1, Volume 1, Number 1 
CW2 Issue 2, Volume 1, Number 2 
CW3 Issue 1, Volume 1, Number 3 
CW4 Issue 1, Volume 1, Number 4 


issues.; Foreign $5.00 per issue. 


31 


CW & RUN BACK ISSUES 


For years, RUN Magazine provided Commodore Users with a 
great source of information, and now CMD has given you 
Commodore World. Don't let this valuable information slip 
away—fill in the voids in your library now! 


RUN Magazine Back Issues 
Any 3 issues for $12.00, any 6 for $18.00, 
or any 12 for only $24.00 


Shipping: 3 or 6 issues - U.S. $3.00, Canada $5.00, Foreign $15.00; 12 issues 
U.S. $5.00; Canada $7.00; Foreign $20.00. 


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Shipping: U.S. and Canada $2.00 for first issue, plus $1.00 per additional 


TO ORDER CALL 1-800-638-3263 


use only on the smallest, simplest 
programs. Without intelligent 
interaction between computer 
and human, it’s impossible to 
guess and correctly decode 
complexities like tables of jump 
addresses, or high/low byte 
setup for indirect pointers. The 
few good reverse assemblers | 
have run across allow the user 
to construct a table, sometimes 
elaborate, that says how to 
interpret the various bytes of the 
program. 

The complete source listing 
for UNKARMA is. useful, 
however. It lets the user see the 
kind of coding style that can be 
put to workin KARMA projects, 


Conclusion. 
This isa good, fast, and powerful 
assembler. It’s specifically 
tailored to the Commodore 128 
and makes good use of features 
such as burst-mode disk 
activity. 
- Jim Butterfield 
» 


RMOCT89 October 1989 
RMSP89 Special Issue 1989 
RMJANSO January 1990 
RMMAY90 May 1990 
RMJUN90 June/July 1990 
RMDEC90 December 1990 
RMJAN91 Jan/Feb 1991 
RMJAN92 Jan/Feb 1992 
RMMAR92 March/April 1992 
RMMAY92 May/June 1992 
RMJUL92 July/August 1992 
RMSEP92 Sep/October 1992 


RMNOV92 Nov/December 1992 


CW5 Issue 1, Volume 1, Number 5 
CWE Issue 6, Volume 2, Number 1 
CW7 Issue 7, Volume 2, Number 2 
CW8 Issue 8, Volume 2, Number 3 


COMMODORE WORLD 


6 6 


a 
POTENT OSTEO 
IATA RR ieee 


Woooeodk Szo0tiqi2 = 
Blood Money 
Psygonosis Ltd, 
Available from CMD 


I have this really annoying habit of 


waking up extremely early, even on 
weekends. This Saturday, like most, 
my eyeballs unwillingly popped 
open before 8 a.m, While listening 
to my daughter “sawing logs” in the 
other room, | decided to enjoy my 
“quiet time” (the blissful time that | 
havealltomyselfbefore my daughter 
wakes up) by going on a “kamikaze 
quest for gold and glory”. At 8 a.m., 
with the use of my C64 and Blood 
Money, I ventured into a land 
containing four Outer Planets, alien 
life-forms, challenges beyond belief, 
colorful graphics, great music and 
sound effects, 

Blood Money's initial screen gave 
meachoice of playing either a one or 
two player game. Since I thought it 
would be rude to wake my cohort, | 
settled for a one player game. The 
two player option allows a comrade 
toassist me in destroying the aliens. 
Here, | could also switch between 
music and sound — effects. 
Additionally, during game play, | 
could also use the F3 key to toggle 
between sound effects and music. 
By the way, both effects in this game 
are great, especially the music. For 
the time, I settled for the sound 


COMMODORE WORLD 


effects to help restrain my natural 
tendency of cranking up the volume 
while listening to a great tune. The 
third option allows me to decide the 
level of game play—patient or 
impatient. | must admit, once I'd 
tried out both of these options, | 
couldn't distinguish between either 
of them. 

The manual quotes Blood Money 
as an “Alien Safari across the 
untamed horizons of four hostile 
planets.” What a unique way to start 
my weekend! The journey begins 
with an allotment of 200 credits. The 
first 100 ofthese credits will be spent 
on admission to the first planet 
known as Gibba. Admission 


increases by 100 credits for each of 


the three successive planets— 
Grone, Shreek, and Snuff. When the 
game began, [found that my vehicle, 
controlled by ajoystick, looked more 
like a helicopter than a space ship. 
It didn’t take long before | met up 
with a whole host of aliens in 
addition to randomly placed bomb- 
shooting weapons. I discovered that 
the obliteration of some life-forms 
resulted in floating credits. The only 
way to grab these credits was to 
quickly but skillfully guide my ship 
into them, Not an easy task when 
you've got a slew of aliens on your 
tail. 

During my trip, Ineeded toaccrue 
enough credits for admission to the 
next planet. Also, I found stores at 
various locations, At these stores | 
could use my credits to purchase 
missiles, bombs, thrusters, health 
and efficiency boosters, and extra 
bodies. 

How addicting is this game? Well, 
at 10:30 a.m., my daughter finally 


managed to drag me away from the 
screen, It was either thatorshewould 
have died a certain death due to 


starvation. It amazes me that I 
haven't heard of this game before. 
Perhaps because it’s yet another 
space game. After playing so many 
space games, | will undoubtedly be 
prepared for theinevitable day when 
Iwill be at the helm of my own lazer- 
equipped spaceship! Beware of ships 
bearing the QT symbol, because 
heaven knows, my cohortsand | have 
had plenty of advanced training!!! 

- Sherry Freedline 


CHAMPIONSHIP 


BASEBALL’ 


PYRIGHT Oe ME THuIsION HNC 


Championship Baseball 
Activision 
Available from SSI 


As a youngster, | rarely enjoyed a 
game of baseball. Just like a magnet, 
I had an uncanny ability to attract 
that hard baseball to my body. 
However, I do enjoy going to see 
baseball games, as well as watching 
them on TV, Now, with Activision’s 
Championship Baseball, 1 can 
actively participate without the fear 
of injuring myself. 

Championship Baseball's 
opening screen displays three 
different game options: League Play, 
Exhibition Play, and Batting 
Practice. As a new player, you may 
want to practice your swing with the 


32 


Batting Practice option, Here the 
pitcher throws the same variety of 
pitches as in the actual 
Championship Baseball games. You 
may opt to “bunt” or “swing away”. 
To select your desired swing, you 
must time the press of your joystick 
button; press it before the ball is 
pitched for a bunt, and press it after 
the ball is pitched to swing away. A 
few practice swings and you'll be 
ready for the big time. When you've 
had enough, you can press the FS 
and F7 keys together to move on toa 
real game. 

You'll need to choose between 
League Play or Exhibition Play before 
you can play an actual game. Ifit’s a 
one-player game and you don’t care 
to draft your own team, select 
Exhibition Play. Ifyou'd like to play 
a two-player game against a live 
opponent, you'll also want to select 
Exhibition Play. But, if you want to 
play a one-player game with a team 
of your own creation against the 
computer, then choose the League 
Play option. 

Attimes you'll want to draft your 
own team, such as in two-player 
Exhibition Play and one-player 
League Play. You'll need to supply 
your own data disk in order to save 
your team configuration. Once 
you've elected to draft a New Team, 
you're asked to name your team. 
Then you'll cycle through the infield 
and outfield positions, catcher, 3 
pitchers, one reliever, and 2 reserves 
witha choice of two different players 
for each position (player A or B). 
Each of these players will have 
varying skill ratings, Players A and B 
willeither bea Liner ora Slugger and 
will be rated for Batting, Catching, 


Issue 9 


GAMES - MINIVIEWS 
[a NSS 


IMULNUW/ULS 


f\ 
U 


GAMES. MINIVIEWS - 
GAR 


= 


Ca 
pS 
Haas fae 


ao 
) hae 


Pe | VATLINI WV \V7[ le ere 


GAME 


Sl 
La Lh EZ 


GAMES - MINIVIEWS - GAMES - MINIVIEWS - GAMES 


IAULNUW UES 


Running, and Throwing. Once 
you've selected either A or B, enter 
the name and you'll move on to the 
next position. Pitchers are rated 
according to their Speed, Control, 
and Stamina, 

After your team is drafted, 
organize your line-up, choose your 
division, and it’s time for the first 
pitch of the game. I found the game 
play to be alittle difficult. First ofall, 
while up at bat, it takes a while to 
learn exactly when to press the 
joystick button in order to hit the 
ball. Though once you've practiced 
this a bit, it does get easier. When 
you're playing the field, you control 
ALL the players. You really need 
quick reflexes to be able to catch the 
ball and get it to the desired base to 
tag the runner out. But, practice 
makes perfect, and at leastit’s fun to 
practice. 

Win the division by ending your 
five game season with the bestrecord 
and you'll advance to the one-game 
playoff against the champion from 
your paired division. Win the playoff 
game to move up to the 
Championship — series. The 
Championship is won by the winner 
of 2 out of 3 games. 

The game looks good and sounds 
equally as good with cheers from the 
crowd. The game comes complete 
with a manual which provides easy 
to decipher instructions on how to 
get up to bat with Championship 
Baseball. Joysticks are required as 
well as a blank disk or disks 
depending on the number of live 
players. You'll also need to clear a 
block oftime to play througha whole 


Volume 2, Number 4 


game, afterall, thereare nineinnings 
toa game. Oh, one last thing: you'll 
need to supply own peanuts and 
popcorn!! 

- Sherry Freedline 


, th a A! ah. ee 
peek Phe Ae 


ABC Monday Night 
Football 

Data East 

Available from CMD 


The end of the football season no 
longer has to mean the end of 
Monday Night Football. Thanks to 
the folks at Data East, this popular 
weekly pass-time can be enjoyed 
every single day! 

By now, almost everyone knows 
what a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan 
Iam. Last year we were treated to a 
thrilling season, even though it 
ended two weeks sooner than 


expected, With all the playoff 


excitementin the air, itwas definitely 
the perfect time to review ABC 
Monday Night Football. 
Complete documentation is 
provided with an instruction guide 
and fold out Commodore 64/128 
instruction card. Since I’m not 
familiar with all the intricate details 
of football, | thought it wise to 
thoroughly read the manuals, 
which, by the way, are very well 


GAME Sar 


done. They even contain a glossary 
of football terms. Still, after reading 
both sets, | had no idea what 
surprises awaited me on that 
innocent looking floppy disk. 

| popped the disk into the drive, 
issued the load “boot”, 8 command, 
and...wow!...my jaw about hit the 
floor! | was honestly surprised! | 
expected the great graphics, but 
certainly not the digitized speech. 
Right then, I knew this was one of the 
coolest games I've reviewed to date. 

Once you enjoy the opening 
screens and a guest appearance by 
Frank Gifford, the Game Options 
Menu appears, Choose your 
preferences for Field Goal/Extra 
Point, Cheerleaders, and Half-time/ 
Game Over settings. 

Then it’s off to the main game 
menu where seven different game 
options await. I was glad to see a 
one-player practice option, This is a 
fantastic option for first-time 
players. The next three optionsallow 
selections of competitors for 
exhibition games. These are followed 


by alternatives for playing a playoff 


series with up to ten players! Finally, 


a demo mode allows sneak peeks of 


the game. 

Yet a third menu can be accessed 
by hitting the Run/Stop key. It is very 
important because it is where the 
strengths and weaknesses of team 
playersmay be modified. A Playmaker 
Utility isalsoavailable from this menu 
enabling you to create your very own 
plays from scratch. 

Finally, it’s game time! Before 
every play the Play Selection screen 
appears. At this time, both the 


33 


IMULNUW/ UE WATS 


offense and defense can select their 
next plays. Then, it’s off to the line 
of scrimmage. And the fun begins! 
Digitized speech announces the 
“huts” and “hikes”, 

Of course, after the “hike” is 
hollered, the center snaps the ball 
to the quarterback, which, lo and 
behold happens to be you! At the 
bottom of the screen are a row of 
helmets representing each of the 
possible receivers. Cycle through 
each ofthe helmets by holding down 
the joystick button. When the 
desired helmet is highlighted release 
the button and you become the 
intended recipient of the football. 
The computer now controls the 
quarterback and tries to complete 
the play. It will take a bit of time to 
get accustomed to selecting your 
receivers because these decisions 
must be made quickly before the 
defense sacks you. Thankfully, you 
can't forget which player you are 
controlling due to a triangle icon 
reminder. Of course, after playing 
offense, you'll also get a chance to 
play defense. 

This gameisjust packed from byte 
to byte with every imaginable 
feature. Half-time Cheerleaders, 
music, and even an ABC Monday 
Night Football TriviaGameare some 
ofthe cooler features. Unfortunately, 
there are way too many features to 
explain all in this “mini-review”. So 
there's only oneway tofindout...play 
ABC Monday Night Football, you 
definitely won't be sorry, although 
your spouse may be! 

- Sherry Freedline 
» 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Lions of the Universe 


$19.95; Electric Boys Entertainment Software; 
Creative Micro Designs, Inc., P.O. Box 646, East 
Longmeadow, MA 01028-0646; (800) 638-3263. 


Lions of the Universe is the second all new game 
brought to us in recent months from the folks 
whocall themselves Electric Boys, Unfortunately, 
the days of drooling over an abundance of 
Commodore games has long been gone. So of 
course, it’s great to see new gamesstill arrivingon 
the scene. Now we really need to be grateful for 
those programmers still creating new programs 
for our beloved machine. 

Lions of the Universe is not just another space 
game. Itisone ofthe most unique and challenging 
space games I've played to date. The Lions are 
starfighters for the Omacron sector of the galaxy. 
And, as most space games go, their sectoris being 
attacked by alien forces. As the top Lion, you 
must save your sector from these menacing 
creature ships. 

So, you're probably wondering, what is so 
unique about the game to justify its purchase? 
First of all, the alien attackers consist of space 
ships which usually swarm in groups of at least 
four or more, Right from the very start, you'll 
notice they don’t just fly right at you. They travel 
inrandom dance-like patterns. Sometimes they'll 
even come at you from behind. From level to 
level, you'll never know what to expect next. This 
makes shooting them quite a challenge, but it can 


COMMODORE WORLD 


be done, you'll just need to be quick on 
the trigger. And fortunately, you'll find 
help scattered along your travels in the 
form of “glowing weapon icons”. The 
icons change as you shoot them. When 
you see a desired weapon, simply fly 
into the icon to arm your ship. The 
weapons will provide you with the 
capability of shooting in various 
directions at one time. Try to collect as 
many as you can, otherwise you won't be able to 
get very far into the game. 

At the end of each wave of alien spaceships, 
you'll be greeted by an angry “Mega Guardian”. 
Their demise (yes, sometimes there are more than 
one of these big guys) requires patience and a 
well-armed space ship. Conquering these awesome 
monsters is rewarded by advancing to yet another 
even more challenging wave of aliens. 

Secondly, a truly awesome soundtrack adds to 
the game’s overall unique gaming experience. 
The combined music and sound effects, along 
with bright colorful graphics keep you coming 
back for more and more. 

Now for the downside...CMD distributes the 
NTSC version of Lions of the Universe. Overall, 
the game translated very well but depending on 


your system, you may experience brief periods of 


screen flicker, There isn’t much that can be done 
to overcome this problem. Lions of the Universe 
was programmed on a PAL system which uses 
different timing systems than our own NTSC 
Commodores. 

Due to these and other differences, many PAL 
programs can’t be used at all on NTSC systems. 
Luckily, Lions of the Universe is one of those 
programs that converted well for NTSC systems. 
Otherwise, NTSC Commodore system owners 
would have to do without such a great game. In 
the future, | hope we see more great games from 
Electric Boys. They are definitely a talented group! 

- Sherry Freedline 


34 


Super Pogo Stick 
$11.95; Yanney Software, P.O. Box 224, 
Lebanon, PA 17042-0224. 


lamalways happy to see brand new games 
introduced into the Commodore market. 
In recent months, Super Pogo Stick is one 
of four new games that I've noticed. This is 
fantastic news for all diehard Commodore 
users! 

Super Pogo Stickis contained onasingle 
5 1/4" disk. In addition to the game file, 
the disk contains 30 different mazes 
contained in 6 maze files. However, only 
five default mazes can be used during one 
game. To change the default maze file, 
you'll need to rename one of the maze files. 
Also supplied on the disk is a BASIC 
program to create your own challenging 
maze files. 

The very second I began playing Super 
Pogo Stick, my mind instantly recalled the 
infamous Lode Runner game by 
Broderbund. However, there are quite a 
few differences between the two games, 


Issue 9 


and playing Super Pogo Stick is indeed a 
unique experience. 

Each game screen features a maze 
containing a series of brick ledges. Some 
of the ledges contain dislodged bricks. 
Your goal is to safely make your way 
through the maze and pop them back 
into place by moving your pogo stick over 
top of them. Elevators, steps, and up to 
nine different obstacles can make 
reaching the bricks quite a challenge. 

The only way to progress to the next 
level is to repair all the dislocated bricks. 
Points are earned by completing levels 
and repairing bricks, as well as guiding 
your pogo stick over randomly placed 
dollar signs, question marks, mystery 
eggs, hour glasses, and mini pogo sticks. 
The hour glass also increases your time 
and the mini pogo sticks will reward you 
with an extra life. 

I love the game play along with the 
bright, colorful graphics. However, the 
sound effects truly annoyed me, I could 
turndownthevolume, butagamewithout 
sound is just as bad as a game with 
disturbing sound effects. I'dlove to see an 
updated version of this game released 
featuring new sound effects and/or a 
catchy musical tune. The best attribute of 
this game is it never grows old because 
once you've conquered each of the 
included mazes, you can create all new 
mazes to conquer! 

-Sherry Freedline 


Volume 2, Number 4 


Riddles And Stones 


You'll find a story tucked 
away in the documentation 


for Riddles And Stones, a dramatic piece of 
writing which provides you with some kind of 


a back story for the game; an excuse for its 
existence, so to speak. It has to do with a 
spooky mansion and thunder and lightning 
and all that sort of thing. Read it; it's pretty 
cool. Don't let that story fool you, however. This 
game doesn’t require any excuses at all. 

Riddles and Stones is a dream. It is clearly 
evident in every detail that this game was a labor 
of love. If you aren't convinced of that just by 
watching the beautiful graphics or by listening to 
the music, you will be once you read the history of 
the game’s creation. 

The manual includes that story as well. Years 
of work went into it, not only in creating top- 
notch graphics and music but also in 
developing the basic concept into an elegantly 
smooth game loaded with user-friendly 
features. 

As with so many excellent strategy games, 
Tetris being a prime example, the game is simple 
to learn and easy to conquer at the lower levels. 
Essentially, you need to pick up stones and place 
them in a path from one edge 
of the square playing field to 
the other. The symbols on the 
stones you place must match 
the symbols on the playing 
field where youset them down. 
Oh, and stones move until they 
hitsomething. That's about it. 

Of course, as the levels slip 
by oh so smoothly, little 
challenges present themselves. 
There are suddenly two 
possible paths to take or a 
simple wrong turn that makes 
itimpossible to stop a stone from bouncing back 
and forth. Fancier spaces find their place on the 
playing field, giving you the chance to skip back 
and forthor jump walls. It take more and more 


35 


DM 25 (German Marks); Rene Lerch, I. Wendung 
9, D-23970, Wismar, Germany; 03841/615859 


concentration and careful planning to complete 
afield. And before you know, you've spent hours 
at it. 

Riddles And Stones is a game written by a 
devoted Commodore gamer and it showsin some 
of the exceptional features incorporated into the 
game play. For example, each field in each level 
has a password, which saves you the trouble of 
playing the same levels over and over as you 
work. Ifa field stumps you, you can try it over 
again without having to reboot by pressing a 
function key. 

The manual, while heavily spiced with 
personal anecdotes, finds plenty of room for 
the important stuff, the game rules and setup. 
If that isn’t enough, you can send for a list of 
all the passwords and all the solutions so you 
can move around and see the pretty pictures 
or just jump ahead and play a particularly hard 
level for the fun of it. 

Unfortunately, Riddles And Stones is not 
compatible with extra peripherals. 1 had to 
disconnect my RAMLink and my second disk 
drive in order for the game to progress past level 
one. 

This isn’t critical, T suppose, but if | have to 
disconnect 
things to play a 
game | am less 
likely to play it. 
The manual 
does — clearly 
state that you 
need to remove 
any extra drives, 
so at least the 
author is up 
front about it. 
And hey, 
Riddles And 
Stones is one game that would be worth a little 
extra effort to play. It's simply one of the best 
games I've seen for the Commodore. 

- Steve Vander Ark 
c) 


>) 


COMMODORE WORLD 


HY Alin] of 


Collectibles 


The Commodore 264 Series 


The Commodore 264 


ave you ever gone toa garage sale or flea 

market and noticed a machine that 

looked similar to a old brown bread box 

64, except that it was black in color? In the late 
1980s, did you ever see an ad from a liquidation 
company called C.O.M.B. that was advertising a 
Commodore machine called a Plus/4? Ifso, you 
haveseenamember ofthe Commodore 264 series. 
To understand why these machines are 
noteworthy, we must go overa bit of Commodore 
history. Now, stay with me, this won't take long. 
As many of you know, CBM stands for 
Commodore Business Machines, and 
Commodore sold just that: Business Machines. 
When Commodore introduced computers to 
supplant their calculator and business furniture 
sales, they targeted the business sector. The result 
was the successful PET/CBM line of business 
computers. However, in the early 1980s, 
Commodore decided to target the emerginghome 
computer market with the VIC-20, partly because 
that marketlooked promising and partly because 
Commodore needed to recoup losses on a 
specialized graphics/sound chip that 
Commodore developed and unsuccessfully 
marketed to video game companies. This chip, 
the VIC-I, formed the heart of the VIC-20, giving 


COMMODORE WORLD 


the chip a second 
chance. Well, the 
VIC-20 surpassed 
Commodore's sales 
expectations, and the 
C64 became one of the 
best selling home 
computers of the 
1980s. Notice, though, 
that all this time 
Commodore was 
focusing on the home 
market. So, in late 
1984, Commodore 
remembered its 
business roots and unveiled anew line ofbusiness 
computers: the 264 series, 

Originally, two computers made up the 264 
series: the Commodore 264 and the V364 (or 
CV364 or 364V, depending on which references 
are used). At the low end of the line, the 264 
machine sported the following features: 


¢ The 7501 CPU, which could be clocked up to 

1.76 MHz and was 6502/6510 compatible. 

A new keyboard layout with 4 cursor keys in 

a diamond configuration, 

¢ Acharcoal gray 
case with white 
keys, gray function 
keys, and gray 
cursor keys. 

* Asloping case that 
lost the bread box 
look of the VIC and 
64, 

¢ Anenhanced 
BASIC, version 3.5. 

° 64KB of RAM, of 
which 60671 bytes 
were available for 
BASIC. 


36 


* Support for multiple programming 
languages. 

¢ Built-in 6551 hardware UART for 
telecommunications. 

¢ 40 column by 25 line display via the Text 

Editing Device [C (TED), 

Ability to display 16 colors with 8 luminance 

levels each for a total of 121 different colors 

(all shades of black are black). 

Built-in machine language monitor 

(TEDMon). 

Support for parallel interface disk drive 

operation. 


Magazinesand other periodicals devoted much 
press to the Text Editing Device (TED) IC, which, 
like the VIC-I in the VIC-20, combined the 
graphics and soundinto one chip, The TED could 
display 40x25 text and 320x200 graphics, yet had 
no support for hardware sprites. The TED also 
contained a 3 voice sound (2 sound generators 
and 1 noise generator). Some people referred to 
the 264 as the TED machine. 

Atthetop endofthe line, Commodore planned 
to introduce the V364, which shared the same 
case styling as the 264, but was wider to 


Inside view of the 264 


Issue 9 


accommodate a numeric keypad. Internally, all 
264 features were present, with the addition ofa 
built-in speech synthesizer. 

Before the machines were formally introduced, 
however, Commodore changed its plans. The 
V364 machine was dropped from the lineup, and 
the 264 was renamed the Plus/4 (or PLUS/4, as 
some references show 
the name as) and 
marketed as the 
top-tier machine. The 
newly renamed Plus/4 
machine would be sold 
with four built-in 
productivity 
applications in ROM, 
called the 341 
integrated software 
suite. With the Plus/4 
moving up, two new 
machines were created 
to fill the resulting gap: 
the C16 and the C116. 
Borrowing from the 
successful VIC/C64 line, the Commodore 16 
sported the same case and keyboard style of those 
earlier machines, although the key mapping had 
changed to reflect the need for 4 cursor keys. The 
C116, although functionally identical to the C16, 
was housed ina smaller version of the Plus/4 case 
and had a ‘chicklet’ keyboard. Although laid out 
like a QWERTY keyboard, the keys were 
reminiscent of calculator keys and the entire 
keyboard was much smaller than standard size. 
To reduce costs of these machine, the following 
features were either cut or changed from the 
original 264 (now Plus/4) specification: 


* All keys were gray, except cursor keys on the 
C116, which were light gray. 

¢ The machines contained only 16KB of RAM, 
of which only 12277 bytes were available for 
BASIC, 

¢ Neither machine contained a user port. 

* Neither machine contained a 6551 hardware 

UART or any support for telecommunications. 

The 3+1 software suite was not included, nor 

was the ability to use different programming 

languages. 


Both The Plus/4 and C16 machines were 
previewed in the November 1984 issue of RUN 
Magazine. 

The version of Commodore BASIC present on 
the 264 series was rather advanced, in spite of the 
badly chosen version number. Commodore 
numbered this version 3.5, even though the 
command set included all the commands found 


Volume 2, Number 4 


in Commodore BASIC 4.0 (found on later models 
of the PET/CBM business line) except the 
commands DOPEN, DCLOSE, and RECORD. In 
addition, this version of BASIC includeda rich set 
of graphics and sound commands, previously 
found only in extensions to BASIC 2.0 and 4.0. 
Commands like RENUMBER, RESUME, TRAP, 


The Commodore Plus/4 


TRON, and TROFF helped make debugging 
BASIC programs a less tedious task. Some of 
these commands made their first appearance in 
the home computer market on the 264 series. 
One main selling point of the new series was 
the integration of the productivity software into 
the computer system. The 3+1 software, a play on 
the name of Lotus 1-2-3, a popular software 
package at the time, was one of the first examples 
of integrated software on a computer system. 
Four applications were included, which included 


Inside view of the Plus/4 


a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a 
graphics program, and data management 
software. Although rudimentary by todays 
standards, these programs were usable for light 
work. Available only on the Plus/4, this software 
suite was entered from the main screen by hitting 


37 


the function key F1 and pressing the return key. 
Commodore played up the convenience of the 
built-in software and called the Plus/4 the 
Productivity Machine. 

Not only did Commodore introduce built-in 
integrated software with the 264 series, but they 
also brought out a whole line of peripherals to 
support the machines. Among the introductions 
were: 2 disk drive models, a set of joysticks, a 
Datasette, and two printers. Each peripheral was 
charcoal gray to match the computers. Some 
peripherals, like thejoysticks and Datasettes, were 
introduced simply because Commodore had 
changed these connectors on the 264 series, and 
older models would not work. Other peripherals, 
like the Commodore 1542 drive, were simply 
older units that were repainted to match the new 
color scheme. However, some peripherals, like 
the 1551 disk drive, were indeed designed with 
the 264 series in mind. 

In the input device department, Commodore 
marketed a set of joysticks for the computers. 
These joysticks were simple pistol-grip models 
with the new connector. 

Ifyou have ever wondered why some models of 
the MPS 803 printer were charcoal gray in color, 
now you know. Functionally equivalent to the 
MPS 801 and 1525, this printer was the dot-matrix 
printer offered for use with the 264 series. For the 
business setting, Commodore produced the 
ill-fated DPS-1101 daisy-wheel letter quality 
printer. I say ill-fated because Commodore 
computer users have typically embraced graphics 
printers over text printers, and the DPS-1101 
was merely the wrong kind. 

The biggest news came 
in the storage device 
offerings. As earlier 
noted, the Datasette, 
model 1531, was 
simply a 1530 (or C2N) 
Datasette with a new 
connector. The first 
disk drive model, the 
1542, was a similar 
mutation. Commodore 
simply dyed and 
renumbered a 1541 
driveto create the 1542. 
However, Commodore 
did acknowledge the 
slowness of disk access 
on the 264 series by introducing the 1551 disk 
drive. The 1551, although containing the same 
mechanism as the 1541/42 (and able to read and 
write those models disks), featured a new and 
faster transfer method. The 1551, alternately 
called the SFS-481 drive, did not use the serial 


COMMODORE WORLD 


bus, like older drives. 
Instead, each drive 
came with a cable and 
interface that plugged 
into the expansion 
port. Two such 1551 
drives could — be 
connected in this way, 
and a cartridge could 
be plugged into the back of the interface. Instead 
of transferring bytes one bit at a time on the serial 
bus, the 1551 transferred 3 bits at a time on this 
3 bit parallel bus (called the TED CBM or TCBM 
bus), which sped up the transfer rate to 1600 Bps 
(bytes per second) versus 300-400 Bps for the 
Commodore serial bus. 

Commodore marketed the Modem/300as the 
modem to use with the Plus/4 (the C16 had no 
user port). Most people know this modem as the 
1660, which could be used on both the VIC-20 
and C64 as well. 


Along with the name change, the addition of 


the 3+1 software, the demise of the V364, and the 
introduction of the C16 and C116, Commodore 
changed the marketing plan. Commodore 
decided to market the series to both the business 
and educational markets, as well as individuals 
owning a VIC-20 or C64 that wanted more of a 
work computer. Alas, a number of technical and 
marketing problems 
plagued the 264 series. 
At the time of 
introduction, — the 
Commodore VIC-20 
had sold millions of 
machines, and the 
Commodore 64 was 
selling at a similar rate. 
Users were accustomed 
to the feeble BASIC 2.0 
and the ability to port programs between the two 
machineswith little effort. With theradical changes 
in the memory map of the 264 series and the new 
version of BASIC, programmers found it harder to 
modify programs to work on the new machine. 

There were more software woes. Commodore 
was slow in ramping up the development of 
in-house software for the new series, This fact, 
coupled with the lack of third party software 
because of code migration problems, presented 
the new Plus/4, C16, and C116 owner with few 
choices for software. Meanwhile, thousands of 
programs were already in production for the C64 
and VIC-20. 

Atthe time ofintroduction of the computers, a 
number of Commodore users were still using the 
Datasette as their primary storage device. For 
users wishing to use the Datasette on the new 


COMMODORE WORLD 


evrererrerevereer 
Meoceeeeeeeeneeme 
SeeeeRreeeneeen 


The Commodore C16 


The niga tis C116 


machines, the nonstandard 
connector on the new 
computers meant either buying 
anew Datasette or purchasinga 
special adapter for the existing 
unit. However, this was a small 
annoyance compared to the 
following problem. The tape 
formats on the new machines 
were incompatible with all other Commodore 
machines. Since the introduction of PET 2001, 
Commodore had maintained a single tape 
recording format on all its computers. 
Unintentionally or not, the 264 series routines 
transferred data to the Datasette halfas fast. This 
make the Datasette unsuitable 
for transferring files and data 
between a Plus/4 or C16 and 
any other CBM machine, and 
the slower format made 
programsand dataloadathalf 
the normal speed. This made 
an already slow storage 
medium more exasperating. 
On the marketing front, 
Commodore became a victim of their own 


success. With the C64 taking its place as one of 


the most economical computers and an 
established game machine, many saw 
Commodore as the producer 
of game oriented machines. 
Commodore's credibility as 
a business = computer 
manufacturer was lost in the 
shuffle. As a result, few 
businesses gave the Plus/4 
any serious consideration. 
Also, because of the success 
of the C64, most Commodore 
dealers and retail outlets 
were unwilling to devote much time and space 
to the new unproved machines. A large number 
of dealers refused to carry the alternate language 
ROMs, stating that swapping ROMs was too 
time and effort consuming. 

Buyers, expecting to purchase the newest 
“game” computer from 
Commodore, were 
disappointed when the new 
machine failed to provide the 
graphics and sound effects 
already present on the 
Commodore 64, Users were 
greatly disappointed by the 
lack of hardware sprites, a 
feature used by many C64 
games that helped speed up 
game play. These things, 


38 


Internal view of the C16 


Internal view of the C116 


coupled with the hardware incompatibilities and 
the lack of software, caused many to either not 
purchase or return the units. 

Those buyers who did look at the machine ina 
business setting were equally disappointed. 
Although IBM compatibility was not the hot topic 
it is toady, the IBM PC and XT had started to 
appear in business settings. The IBM machine, as 
well as other business machines of the early to 
mid 1980s, had effectively standardized on a 80 
column by 24 or 25 line display. The 264 series 40 
column display just wasn’t wide enough. 

So, with all these problems working against 
the Commodore 264 series, production was short 
lived. During the late 1980s, the remaining stock 


was sold off to 
liquidators. Since there 
are actual =. 264 


machines (labeled 264) 
on the market, it is 
believed Commodore 
erroneously liquidated 
the original prototype 
units as well. 

Before you write off 
the Commodore 264 series as just a minor note 
in Commodore history, let me assure you that 
these computers and peripherals helped shape 
the direction of future Commodore systems. 
BASIC 3.5, with some changes, became 
Commodore BASIC 7.0, found in the C128 line. 
The 1551, though not a huge success in its own 
right, lent its DOS code to form the base for the 
1571 and 1581 DOS versions. In these new 
products, the legacy of the 264 series proved 
more successful. 

Ifyou are the proud owner of any or all of the 
components in the 264 series, treasure your 
purchase. Even though this series never saw the 
financial success other Commodore systems 
enjoyed, they are by no means unsupported. 
Some magazines still cater to the Plus/4-C16 
owners. They are, after all, Commodore 
machines, so most software can be modified to 
run on these machines. Some of the peripherals, 
like the printers, modems, and the monitors, 
canbeusedwith other 
Commodore computer 
systems. So, the next 
time — you encounter 
black Commodore 
computerorperipheral, 
welcome it, as it isno 
less important than 
the other orphan 
Commodore 
computers, 


$) 


Issue 9 


eo 


O 


— from the Collector's Notebook — 


Commodore 264 Series 


“Tis Veely TWa®l a number of NbATA American ceaders 
have sean a Pris/Y, a ClO, 9 a 1542 Bsk de 
Ppwever, cmnsiderubly fewer people have seen a $31 
disk dye or a Commndore | |G. AiThoush T snl veri<ied, 
These amponenis are believed To huve been available only 
” Europe ads Span, 


© The earhesT dyer wy my allezlion lisTs The Plus/Y4 <r 
uber &3CC. 


* The power supply used on The Plus/4Y macrine was 
sump a WC/GY bck power supply Wh a special 
cvweetor, The 264 used a STandued WC/CY power 
supply. 


© The Cl 6 and Cl 1 6 use a WV DE power supply Wilh 
a swuull coax conmezior, 


© The | S351 disk deve will power vp Wilh a 73 c8a” 
105 V2.6 TOISK C C error STaTus. The versio number 
is Misleading Thoush, sve This version Q.6 cAlawed extra 
axwunis rer Sound wn The 1 S41 drives DOS 


* Even Thoush The C\G case bxXs aTrikingly swyilae To 
The WE and CGY case, T's slighty shpeTer in heichT, 
and some VO ports hack wave. been reswuped Lor The 
Rew ameélors. 


* AlThoush impossible To prove, iT is believed Commodore 
changed The comectors on The joystick and casséTe pols 
To speed up FCC axesTarce. The new aovvetlos were 
of The European mini nN) vaerely, Wien all less RE 
radiation leakage, 


* WT is generally believed Twat The VSC4 never made 
pasT The mock-up STage. \ have seen no meATION of anyone 
awning such a mache Cm slatng ceporls stale The 
speech syithesizer, Which was To be wrhuded wy The VEC , 
To be soéTwure based and Wurdware based, Given The 
embryonic STase of The design, \ om oT sure even 
Cavywwdore Knew. 


© Proles of The | $31 dee show (T both with an od 
si yie ales mechanism wstalled and With The new style 
Turn down lalelving mechanism wstalled, WT is nel Wow 
\Wwheélher both versions were aZluully sol. 


© Sone aludls repel Wal The Cl G@ \s allemately called 
The TEID-\ b, swe The UC AC was used inThe WC-20, 
diThoush The WCE chip STand Sor Video WTercace Chip, and 
The ampules is The Video VlerCace Computer-2e, 


© For These who own a Pros/Y, Cl 6 o Cl | G and wad} 
To muke more use of The machine, | would sugsesT 
aftaztng Sack Vanderwhite. Sack offers many so€T\ware. 


Volume 2, Number 4 39 


TMes Gor The 2G6Y series and prblishes a disk maguzine 
With Pas/Y wd CIG wiewito nm T aalled 
COMMODORE CEE, Special Thanks “To Dak <or 


veriGying some of The mGonmation in This aéTcle. 


COMMODORE CEE 
elo Sack Vanderwte 
PO. Bx ABAIS 
Surumerte, CA AS82383 


Valemel: 

Sack VanderwWwileecee-GY owen sacsbx.cavy 
Fdonatil 203/444 
Bes; GlG) 396-4733 


Di€£ererces baTween The ACY and The Plis/4: 


© The Power supply anneztor on The CY is BAT aailTo 
The S pin DW comedion Used on The later WC-2Cs 
a C6Ys. The produto PY uses a 4 pin square 
aveilor swilue to The S pin connector used o The 


Cl 2s. 


The 264 prototype Typically does nOT wrhude The Sz 


ROMs. 


Some smull  amponeis 1 The wplherboaed are 
ether handwired of some hand wired jumpers are 
stalled. (These piélures, The 264 profelype bus 
The 6524 PO Lor The Kevooud hand w red ww) 


DEé£ererces between We Cl G ad te Cl |G: 


e AlTveush Eurelonally equivaleay, The wilherbourds 


Lor The Two wxchines are completely dE LereAl. 


« The ClG uses a Typeweer keyloourd, while The 
CIlG emplys a cwekle)l Kexoourd, 


* Ve Cl IG ase is sTyled To lok Whe a smuller Version 
of The Prus/Y, While The Cl © uses The TradiTonal 


WC/6Y case and eyoourd, 


Main Kes: Parl Number Deser'pTon 


o SSCI Dervalwe of CST2/651 C 
CPU ore. 
Text Eating Device 
(Graphies and Sound). 
) eleaammnunicdl ms. 


Banles VO, Keyoourd, EF 


WScl 
S200 


S531 
6524 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Graphic Interpretation 


dy Steue Vander Ark 


SOME TIPS ON USING GEOPUBLISH 


There are few programs that I enjoy using more 
than geoPublish. | suppose the fact that I get a 
kick out of desktop publishing is one reason, but 
the real reason runs deeper than that. The real 
reason I love geoPublish is that there really is no 
program that better shows off the potential of the 
Commodore computer and the genius of the 
GEOS operating system. 

GEOS was conceived by some very talented 
programmers at a company called Berkeley 
Softworks well over ten years ago, back when the 
whole idea of a graphical interface was new and 
innovative. Back then, the Macintosh was 
demonstrating that you didn’t have to learn to 
program just to formata disk as long as you could 
pointand click witha mouse. Quitea few die-hard 
computer people thumbed their noses at the 
whole thing (as some still do); butmore and more 
folks came to find that operating a computer 
wasn't as difficult as it seemed once they had 
menus of choices ready for them to pull down 
when they needed them, and cute little icons that 
stood for their favorite programs. This was when 
Brian Dougherty proposed an exciting idea to 
one of the leading computer manufacturers in 
the US, that his company create such a graphical 
interface for their number one selling model, the 
Commodore 64. They turned him down. 

Dougherty and his company, Berkeley 
Softworks, turned their attention toward other 
projects to pay the bills, buta few years later when 
the concept of a graphical interface was clearly 
here to stay, Dougherty finally got his chance. 
GEOS was born. At first it was, not all that 
successful, The first versions of GEOS were buggy 
and lacking in features. But as the product 
matured, and as die-hard fans like Peter and Paul 
Hughes promoted it to user groups all over the 
country, GEOS took its place as the “official” 
disk-based operating system forthe Commodore. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


More and more people got excited about GEOS, 
and by the time it reached version 2.0 GEOS had 
expanded into a whole family of powerful 
productivity applications for the Commodore. 
The basic GEOS operating system was distributed 
inapackage deal with the Commodore disk drive, 
and soon practically everyone had at least tried it. 
User groups continued to promote and support 
GEOS and related products. Magazines like RUN 
and Compute’s Gazette devoted vast amounts of 
space to articles and columns about them. Third 
party GEOS products appeared, including some 
truly spectacular shareware titles. Much of the 
fancier hardware created for the Commodore, 
from the mouse to the RAMLink, was at least in 
part designed with GEOS in mind. And while 
there are still plenty of Commodore users who 
think GEOS is for computer sissies, an awful lot of 
folks find that GEOS offers an unprecedented 
level of power and convenience on a relatively 
low-powered machine. And the star of the whole 
GEOS family is geoPublish. 

You get a taste of the potential that still exists 
in the Commodore computer when you see a 
document slide out ofa laser printer and realize 


40 


that itis as sharp and as professional-looking as 
the same page coming from, say, a Macintosh. 
Even with a dot matrix printer using one of the 
latest printer drivers, the results are excellent. 
Not only is the final product a delight, but the 
many exciting features of the program also make 
desktop publishing itself a lot of fun. 

If you've read many of my columns over the 
years, you've heard me heap praises on the 
designers of GEOS. When you note that the 
geoPublish program itself is almost LOOK, you 
can see why I say that over and over. Think about 
it: your Commodore 64 only has about 37K of 
working space available, yet geoPublish isa LOOK 
program. That looks almost like magic and in a 
sense, itis. In this case, the magic is that GEOS 
uses the disk drive as almost an extension of 
RAM, swapping sections of the geoPublish 
program in and out when called for. The same is 
true of the document geoPublish creates. Most of 
it is stored on the disk drive even when it’s open 
and being worked on. The result is a program 
unfettered by the limitations of the Commodore 
computer's limited memory. Unfortunately, 
without a RAM device to act as a very fast disk 
drive, the result is also a program which often 
crawls along at a snail’s pace. 

It’s not all that hard to overcome those 
limitations, of course, There are a number of 
excellent RAM devices available which speed 
things up considerably; I can hardly imagine 
running GEOS (and especially geoPublish) 
without one. Butthereare other limitations which 
are worth noting as well, and in this column I'll 
run through some of them. I'll try to offer viable 
ways of overcoming those limitations also. 

I don’t intend to offer a “how to desktop 
publish” article here; there have been plenty of 
them published over the years, including an 
excellent one by Don Radler in issue 6 of this 


Issue 9 


magazine. But one point bears discussion in the 
context of limitations and that is the importance 
of planning ahead. Yousee, one seductive feature 
of any desktop publishing program is the ease 
with which youcan create a document right there 
on the screen. I suppose that isn’t really a 
limitation, but many users make it into one. It’s 
So easy to just wing it, placing graphics and text 
wherever they look good as you work, anda lot of 
people mistake that interactive process for good 
desktop publishing, The trouble is, projects done 
with no advance planning look shoddy and 
amateurish. You want examples? Go check the 
bulletin board at the local supermarket. Just 
because a computer program gives you the power 
to make the whole thing up as you go along 
doesn’t mean that you should. That’s when the 
power becomes a limitation. GeoPublish is no 
exception. Ifyou let the interactive nature of the 
program’stoolsand features make your decisions 
for you, you won't be very successful. But with a 
little planning, you can be in control of your own 
work; the power features will work for you. 

Here are some practical ways to make this 
happen. First of all, let the program’s built-in 
limit on fonts force you to choose your fonts 
ahead of time. Ideally, any desktop published 
page should include only two or three fonts 
anyway: one for headlines and larger text, one for 
the main body of the text, and maybe one for 
emphasis or decoration. | suppose some people 
might accuse me of trying to turn a flaw—the 
seven-font limit—into a feature, butina very real 
sense it is just that, Probably the most obvious 
sign of shoddy desktop publishing is way too 
many fonts on a page. 

Second, use the full page mode more than the 
zoom mode. There’s a very important reason 
why this is so. If you're doing your job properly, 
you see, you should sketch out your pages ahead 
of time. | always do, even if it’s just for a quick 
worksheet for my third graders. This lets me get 
the overall balance of the page correct, with larger 
graphic objects and a sense of coherent design. 
Once! have that general planin mind, the full-page 
mode of geoPublish lets me go right ahead and 
transfer that layout to my page. Once I have 
placed everything, I'll zoom in and fine tune the 
looks and the placement of the various elements; 
but even then I use the full-page mode to keep the 
whole business in perspective, This concept is 
critical; it’s the main reason why programs like 
geoPaint and even Fun Graphics Machine don't 
work as well for real desktop publishing projects. 
Without that full-page view, the page tends to 
consist of a lot of small sections, way too much 
text, and no overall sense of balance or design. 
Now granted, with some careful planning, either 


Volume 2, Number 4 


of those programs can do a fine job of creating a 
page. Even so, they can’t really let you create 
full-page graphic objects without some pretty 
convoluted tricks, and they require you to be able 
to keep things balanced in your imagination 
instead of on a page you can see and work with, 
Remember that when someone looks at your 
published page, they see it as a full page first. 
Balance, especially of text and white space, is 
crucial. GeoPublish gives you the power to keep 
that balance. 

Third, use geoPublish graphics for design 
elements on your page. I’m talking about graphic 
objects created using the various tools of 
geoPublish itself. Anyone who moves to 
geoPublish from programs like geoPaint wonders 
where the pixel-by-pixel edit mode went. The fact 
of the matter is, geoPublish doesn’t have that 
kind of editing, and the reason is that its graphics 
aren't put together that way. Now you can easily 
import those kind of graphics into geoPublish, 
and I don’t mean to downplay the effectiveness of 
the perfect bit-mapped graphic image on a page. 
But for design elements on a page, the graphics 
geoPublish creates are much more versatile. These 


“CONSIDER THIS 
BASIC APPROACH TO 
ANY GEOPUBLISH 
PROJECT; PLAN YOUR 
PAGES AHEAD OF 
TIME.”’ 


graphics are called “objects,” which refers to the 
fact that they are independently-defined entities 
within the computer's memory. They exist as 
separate shapes, even iflayeredinto more complex 
patterns and designs. Not only that, but these 
shapes aren't defined as a series of dots on the 
screen, but rather as a mathematical equation. 
What that means is that when these objects are 
displayedon thescreen or printed out ona printer, 
they are given their dot patterns to the best of the 
ability of the screen or the printer to reproduce 
that equation. This makes a geoPublish graphic 


object resizable to any dimensions with no loss of 


smoothness. Try enlarging a bitmapped graphic 
(which is defined as a series of set points) and 
you'll see how jagged they get. Your design 
elements will always look their best if you create 
them with geoPublish tools. By that same token, 
if you use bitmapped graphics, don’t attempt to 
resize them. They'll never look the same again 
and will probably look a whole lot worse. 

Don't interpret this to mean that there is no 
place for bitmapped images in geoPublish 


41 


documents. GeoPublish’s graphic objects will 
never have the same richness of detail that you'll 
get witha first-rate bitmap. I havea great selection 
of clip art in bitmap format which I use all the 
time. The trick is to find an object that fits the bill 
which also fits the page. Since resizing is pretty 
much out of the question, | have to create my 
whole page around the dimensions of a bitmap | 
really want to use. That gets us right back to 
planning ahead, and with bitmaps and 
geoPublish, this is essential. While the limitation 
on fonts is built right into the GEOS system itself, 
the limitation on bitmaps is more basic, They're 
huge. An image large enough to do justice to a 
full-page layout will eat up an awful lot of disk 
space. It’s just not convenient to keep a large 
selection of those images on a disk along with all 
the other files you'll want handy, particularly 
geoPublish, which is pretty big all by itself. Even 
ifyouhaveaRAMLink witha generous helping of 
RAM, any good sized collection of decent images 
will need to be stored elsewhere. [keep mine ona 
series of disks in photo albums. Some of the very 
large images | keep as geoPaint documents. In 
order to use them in geoPublish, | need to pick 
out the images I’m likely to need before I get 
started. That means, you guessed it, planning 
ahead. 

With all those things in mind, consider this 
basic approach to any geoPublish project; plan 
your pages ahead of time, listing those few fonts 
you'll use throughout. Sketch the basic layout of 
each page, indicating where the text will go while 
leaving enough white space to keep things 
readable and the design balanced. If you're going 
to use geoWrite text files, create them and store 
them along with everything else on your RAM 
device or work disk. Select the bitmaps you will 
want to use and create a photo album of them. 
Youcan keep this photo album on its own disk if 
you are pressed for space, then use Scrap Grab 
instead of the Photo Manager to get them when 
youneed them. (Scrap Grab lets you search other 
disk drives for images.) Once you have done this 
advance planning, you're ready to go, While 
you're working, keep the big picture in mind. 
Don't let yourself get caught up in small sections 
of your page, and keep changes to a minimum. 
Any changes you do make to your advance plans 
should be carefully considered, not just tossed 
in. Use the geoPublish graphics tools to create a 
few design elements such as lines or boxes, Once 
you're done, use the best printer drivers you can 
find for your printer. When you do your part and 
plan this way, geoPublish will deliver a printed 
page that will impress everyone whoseesit. They'll 
be twice as impressed when you say, “I did that 
with my Commodore!” 


$) 
COMMODORE WORLD 


UNDERSTANDING THE LAYOUT 


I remember several years ago, | was thinking about trying my hand at 
programming in GEOS, but I kept avoiding it because I didn’t understand 
how the system operated underneath. 

From the user's point of view, I saw GEOS as being a very interesting 
system, unlike anything ever before forthe Commodore computer. I thought 
it must be a very complex system to learn to program for. Boy was I wrong. 
I soon discovered that it was, in fact, easier to create elaborate, professional 
looking programs for GEOS, than to do the same thing outside of GEOS. 
The majority of the tools needed were already provided for me. All] had to 
do was use my creative mind to manipulate those tools. 

The GEOS Kernal contains a wealth of routines that are just begging to 
be used, Once I learned how it was all laid out, it seemed so easy. That is the 
hardest part for any programmer new to GEOS, getting to know the system 
and writing software to interact with the system in the way it was meant to 
be. 

You don't need to know everything about the GEOS Kernal to make good 
use of it, but it is most helpful to have a good basic understanding of how 
thesystem works and howitislaid out. Youneed to know what configuration 
the machine is in when you are accessing certain Kernal routines. There are 
also ways toaccess the standard Commodore Kernal routines. Let’s see if we 
can learn just how the 64 and 128 is set up under GEOS and how they might 
differ. 

The GEOS Kernal resides in an area of memory on the 64 and is always 
available for access while your application is running. The Kernal can be 
found in the area from $C000-$FFFF. The area from $8000-9FFF is also 
used by the Kernal. There are system variables and various work areas, plus 
the disk driver in this area. The graphics screen that the user sees is always 
at $A000-$BF3F, There are other system variables in use below $0400. 
From $0400 on up to $7FFF is pure programming space for you to use as 
you need, unless you need to make use ofa background screen or a printer 
driver. The printer driver occupies the space at $7900-$7F3F and the 
background screen at $6000-$7F3F, Whoa... make notice of that little 
overlap there and don’t forget about that one when you need to use both. 
It caught me at one time until | realized it. You can’t use the background 
screen (in its entirety) and a printer driver at the same time. 


The 128 Can Get You 

Nowlet's takea look at what is commonly known as the I/O area. Thisis the 
area from $D000-$DFFF. There isa difference between the 64 and 128 here. 
The difference is that on the 64 the I/O area is not visible, while on the 128 
itis. Ona 128, ifyou poke a value within this area, it will do what you intend. 
But on a 64 you will instead corrupt the area of ram that resides there. 
Outside of GEOS, this area of ram is normally hidden underneath the I/O 
area, but in GEOS itis visible, but only on the 64. Calling the Kernal routine 
known as InitForlO will make the I/O area available on the 64. It will also 


COMMODORE WORLD 


42 


make it available on the 128, although it is not needed since it is already 
available. When you are finished using the 1/O area, you simply call 
DoneWithlO. 

What else happens to the state of the machine when you call InitForlO? 
You not only have access to the I/O area, but you also gain access to the 
standard Commodore Kernal. The GEOS Kernal gets switched out and the 
Commodore Kernal gets switched in. Well, almost. Here comes that 128 
again... On the 128, the GEOS Kernal never gets switched out when you call 
InitForIO and the Commodore Kernal likewise does not get switched in. 
This will mess you up every time. I know from experience. Let's see what 
really happens. 

When InitForlO is called, some routine stuff gets taken care of. Sprites 
get disabled for one thing. The interrupt vectors that point the processor 
into specific GEOS routines get changed. They will now point to a ‘do 
nothing’ routine. Your application is in control at this point. You now have 
the opportunity to do special things that maybe GEOS can’t deal with, but 
we will get into things of that nature at another time. 

You can do stuff like jump straight into the Commodore Kernal now. 
Whoops, I forgot about the 128. See, it will get you if you don’t think about 
it. The only part of the Commodore Kernal that you get access to on the 128 
is the Kernal jump table... and it is actually a copy of the jump table that 
points you right back into some GEOS Kernal routines. Those routines will 
then switch out GEOS and jump into the Commodore Kernal routine you 
intended and when finished, GEOS will be switched back in. This is the 
biggest difference between the 64 and 128 and you have to remember this 
if you do anything strange with the computer in your programming. 

Why are the sprites turned off when you call InitForlO? The top-level 
disk driver routines call InitForlO before calling the lower-level routines. 
This was the original purpose of InitForlO... to prepare the machine for disk 
access. The disk driver gets complete control of the machine when 
communicating with the drive, nothing else gets to happen except for the 
little screen refreshing that the VIC-II chip does. The disk drivers deal with 
that as each byte is transferred. You don’t have to worry about that unless 
you want to write a disk driver. 

So, what if 1 want to have sprites in my program, but I don’t want to 
disable them to do something that I need the Commodore Kernal for. The 
answer tothatissimple...justdon’t call InitForlO. On the 128, goaheadand 
call the kernal routine that you need. GEOS will take care of it for you 
without turning off the sprites, just be careful to not use a disk access 
routine. On the 64, though, you will need to disable the interrupts with a SEI 
instruction and then do the memory configuration handling yourself. 

Even ifyouare not using sprites, youare still using them. Yes, don’t forget 
the mouse pointer, itis a sprite, except in the 128’s 80 column mode. Don't 
worry about it though, by disabling the interrupts, there will be no conflict, 
the mouse routines won't get accessed. 


Issue 9 


Know Your Machine 

Are you seeing the importance of knowing what machine your application 
isrunning on? A few issues ago, | talked about establishing a variable called 
screenMode. But I only talked about setting or clearing bit 7 to distinguish 
whether we are running in 40 columns or 80 columns. Now we need to 
expand on that further to include a 64 or 128 recognition in there. Let's use 
bit 6 for this. That's an easy one to remember because if bit 6 is set, the byte 
equals decimal 64. So if we have determined at the start of our application 
that the machine is a 64, simply set bit 6 of screenMode. If the machine is 
a 128 running in 80 column mode, set bit 7. What is the hex byte if bit 7 is 
set? It is $80, and it is also a decimal 128. Simple to remember. If the 
machine is a 128 running in 40 column mode, just set sereenMode to zero. 
Sorry, | don’t know the significance of that one! 

Now let's talk about the 1/O area again. What if you only need to do 
something real quick in the I/O area. You can go ahead and call InitForIO, 
do your thing and then call DoneWithIO. But maybe your application 
needs the most speed it can get and maybe you only need to change one 
byte, something real quick, like maybe the background color or a value in 
the SID chip or something. Calling the InitForlO-DoneWithIO sequence is 
slow. In addition to some routine stuff that we already talked about, there 
isalsoa short delay of about .003 seconds built into it in addition to the rest 
of the routines. That doesn’t sound like much, but if you have to get in and 
out of the I/O area 1000 times, you are going to eat up 3 or 4 seconds doing 
it. That makes for a slow program and we don’t want that. Ifyou only need 
a few quick accesses, then InitForlO is fine. Let's see how this can be done 
without using InitForlO. 

When you havea routine that needs to access the I/O area just adda little 
bit of code to the start and end of the routine as follows: 


php 

sei 

bit screenMode 

buc 18$ 

PushB CPU_DATA 

LoadB CPU_DATA,#10_IN 
18$ 


your routine goes here 


bit screenMode 

buc 88$ 

PopB CPU_DATA 
88$ 

pip 

rts 


The code at the start of this routine can take the place of InitForlO and the 
code at the end can replace DoneWithIO. Ifthe machine is a 64, this code 
takes care of switching out the GEOS Kernal. Ifit is a 128, nothing is done 
because the I/O area is available anyway, but interrupts are still disabled. 
This is much faster than using InitForlO, If you need disk access, you can’t 
do this but just about anything else can be done in the I/O area this way. 
Something else you need to be aware of is that some of the GEOS Kernal 
routines specifically require that InitForIO is called before you access them 
and there are others that require that InitForlO has not been called. Some 
routines don’t care either way. If you goof on this, you are sure to crash the 
machine. In the nextissue, I ‘Il deal with that subject. We will also take alook 
at what it takes to get the 128 into a state where we have the GEOS Kernal 
completely switched out and the Commodore Kernal uncovered. 


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Volume 2, Number 4 


43 


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COMMODORE WORLD 


by Gene Barker 


USING BASIC’S LOAD: PART 1 


Inthis two part series we'll focus on BASIC’s powerful LOAD statement and 
its use in our programs. This first installment focuses on using LOAD to 
divide programs into modules, thereby creating a ‘virtual’ memory capacity 
for our programs. The techniques shown here can also be used to create 
convenient loader programs to load other BASIC programs. 


The LOAD Command 
LOAD"*"'8 


We've all seen this command before. It loads the last program that was 
accessed by device number eight. If no previous programs were accessed, 
this command loads the first program located in the directory. [fwe wanted 
tomake absolutely sure that we always loaded the first program on the disk, 
we would instead type: 


LOAD"O:*""'8 


The zero in the above statement is a - from Commodore's disk units which 
had two drives. The zero indicates drive 0 (the first drive), and a one in this 
location would indicate drive 1 (the second drive). Many single drives still 
make use of this zero despite the fact that they don’t have a second drive, 
and it’s wise to use it in your disk commands to be safe. The colon indicates 
that the drive should begin its search at the top of the directory. And the 
asterisk indicates that the filename could be anything. 

We've all used the LOAD command before, but how many of us have 
used it in our programs? 


How It Works 
Take a look at the following two small BASIC programs: 


Program One 


190 REM PROGRAM ONE 
195 A=999 
11@ LOAD"PROGRAM TWO",8 


115 PRINT"DONE!" 
Program Two 

1@®@ REM PROGRAM TWO 

195 PRINT"A ="A 


What happens if you RUN Program One? It appears like the program 
would load Program Two from device 8 then print “DONE!” But it doesn’t. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


44 


Program One never gets to line 115. It loads Program Two and runs it, 
which results in the following output: 

A = 999 
Whenever youuse the LOAD statementina program, it loads the requested 
file and automatically runs it. It's as if we executed the following lines: 


LOAD" PROGRAM TWO", 8 
RUN 


The original program is overwritten and lost. There is one beneficial 
difference to loading a program from another, however: the new program 
retainsall of the variable values used in the previous program (provided the 
new program is at least one block smaller than the first program loaded). 
For example, the variable ‘A’ which was set in line 105 of the calling 
program would still be equal to 999, whereas ‘A’ would be set to zero if we 
had just loaded Program Two using direct mode. 


This Issue’s Example Programs 
This issue has four separate example programs: 


(1) MENU.BAS - BASIC menu program for selecting which program you 
want to use. 


(2) RANCHAR.BAS - BASIC program that POKEs random characters with 
random colors to the screen. 


(3) RANSCREEN.BAS - BASIC program that changes the border and screen 
areas to random colors. 


(4) DEFAULT.BAS - BASIC program that lets you change the default 
border, screen and text colors used by the menu program MENU.BAS. 


MENU.BAS is the core of these programs. It acts asa main menu, managing 
the use of the other three programs. Notice that the first executable line of 
MENU.BAS line 155, checks if the load flag LF equals 999. If not, the 
program knows that this is the first time that MENU.BAS has ever run. So 
the program in lines 160 to 205 saves the current border, screen and text 
colors, as well as the current drive number. After it saves these values, itsets 
the load flag LF equal to 999. Now the next time we enter this program from 
another program, MENU.BAS knows these values and can reset them 
should another program change them. These resets are performed in lines 


Issue 9 


250 to 275. Lines 300 to 440 let you select which program you want to use. 


RANCHAR.BAS uses some of the screen I/O techniques we mentioned in 
the last issue. The key to this program are the following two lines: 


215 POKE 1024+A,B 


22@ POKE 55296+A,C 


1024 represents the start of screen memory and 55296 the start of color 
memory. Since your Commodore has (25) lines which are (40) characters 
wide, there are (25 * 40) or (1000) possible screen positions. So 
RANCHAR.BAS generates a random number between (0) and (999), then 
adds it to both the screen and color memory positions. In line 215, 
RANCHAR.BAS pokes a random character B (a screen character code 
between 0 and 255) to a random position on the screen (1024+A). In line 
220, RANCHAR.BAS pokes a random screen color C (screen color code 
between Oand 15)tothesamerandomscreen position as line 215 (55296+A). 
This has the effect of poking a random character with a random color toa 
random position on the screen, 


RANSCREEN.BAS will randomly change the border and screen colors 
continuously. The key to this program are the following two lines: 


35 POKE 53280,A 


53281 


i, 


53280is the location in memory which represents the current border color 
and 53281 is the location which represents the current screen color. By 
poking a screen color code (between 0 and 15) to one of these locations you 
instantly change the color of the border or screen. 


DEFAULT.BAS allows the user to change the default color scheme used by 
the menu program. This program shows how programs loaded from other 
programs such as MENU.BAS retain the calling program’s variables. In 
DEFAULT.BAS we change the variables MENU.BAS uses to set its colors. 


BC - Border Color (0-15) 
SC - Screen Color (0-15) 
TC - Text Color (0-15) 


Notes 

As you type in this issue's program, take it one section at a time. Try to get 
ageneral idea of what the sectionis trying to accomplish. Pay closeattention 
to how the variables from the previously loaded program are retained and 
used in the currently loaded program. If you see an unfamiliar BASIC 
statement, take a quick look at it in your BASIC manual. If you are still 
confused, move on to the next section; often times the next section helps 
explain the previous one. Above all, don’t forget to BACKUP your work 
frequently. 


Entering The Programs 
Before entering this issue's programs, load and run the CHK-LIST utility 
(located elsewhere in this issue). CHK-LIST ensures that you enter the 
programs correctly. Also, remember to SAVE each program before you 
attempt to RUN it. It never hurts to be safe. And finally, make sure you use 
the correct filename for each program. 

€) 


, 


(Program listings are located on the following page) 


Volume 2, Number 4 45 


It's Cool 


CKit 94 is a powerful collection of backup utilities designed to take 
advantage of the expanded Commodore systems of the 90's. In fact 
the CKit is so advanced, we recommend it only for certain 
Commodore systems. 


If You Have One Of These 
Commodore 64, 64C, 128, or 128D 
And One Of These 
CMD RAMLink, PPI RAMDrive, or a 17XX REU with JiffyDOS 
And At Least One Of These 
Commodore 1541/157 1/1581 or any CMD Storage Device 
@ YOU NEED THE CKIT 94! 


It's Mean 


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entire 41/71/81 disks in ONE pass. It can even make the next copy 


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an archive. Even more, you can squeeze your 41/71/81 disks and 
CMD partitions into backup files. All of this power is at your 
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Disk Utilities 


Procopy disk copier and the 41/71/81/Native Boa disk squeezers 
/ BBS Utilities 
New Dissolver SDA maker and fast PD Decompers 


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/ CMD Hard Drives/Floppy Drives/RAMLinks 
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J Commodore 17XX REU Support (up to 16Meg) 
J/ RAMLink and RAMDrive DACC Support (up to 16Meg) 


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CKit 94 is available at fine Commodore mail order outlets such as 
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COMMODORE WORLD 


BASIC INSTINCTS SAMPLE PROGRAMS 


5000 | 100 rem - - ------ BEUiH ~<a he sacs SSS Senses 
6dc2 |105 rem commodore world magazi 
c67c ]11@ rem basic instincts w/« 
b@52 1 it?s 
deb6b 

2d24 

92ad 

1315] 135 1 

13£6 4@ rem check 

afac M rem before 

7e@6 1150 rem 

62EC@ 1155 Le if 

af50]160 rem- 

c62e]165 rem store away orginal colors and 
492d d ive =r 

1315 

6204 c=peek (53280): n b - color 
77e5 118! se=peek (53281) : s screen color 
35@9 ( te=peek (646): rem text color 
7€@b | 195 dv=peek(186): rem curr driv 

2aef | 200 1£=999; 

6bOb | 205 goto 300 

da6b | 25 

ac@a 

5291 

fb5a 

b3@d 


rem random screen color sample 


4 r chrs ( 14 7 
int (16* rnd (1 
int ( ee 1d (1 


poke 646,c 
print"{C “LEAR/HOME){CRSR DN) {CRSR 


RT} 


border 
45 print" 


RT} (£3) change screen co 


rem let user choose which program 
rem he/she wishes to use 


371b 


yrint"{CRSR DN}{CRSR RT}press [retur 


DN} cd6® 


OME} {CRSR 


main menu: 
325 print"{CRSR DN} {CRSR RT}(1) random s 


649a 
b87c 
b34f 
2da48 
1557 
5486 
732c 
96f£3 
6afb 
2536 
76a2 
954c 
6454 
ac44 
270e 
dSde 
8bb8 
Ob20 
716b 
9909 
81cc 


LE eel then 260 
230 


@ab7 


3c£@] 335 prin CRSR RT}(3) change default co 


T} (4) quit program 


{CRSR RT}choose an op 


16d7 | 340 print" { R 
460b 345 print"{CRS 
ti ion (i~#) 


9<16 then 
b@ec 
c8el |] 405 if x$e>"1* then 

2093 |} 410 : load"ranchar.bas",dv 
bce@3 | 415 if then 42! 
e20e en. | 
9568 x$<> 

63d4 | 430 : load"default. bas", < 
a@43] 435 if xS<>"4" then 400 
318d | 44@ : end 


ther 


goto 265 
if x$<>chr$(13) then 295 


300 load"menu net, 
5000 - . 

bb8c | 1 rem randot char sample program 
5000 | 110 rem--------- 

6£50]115 r 328 

3725 | 12@ poke53281 

699d 25 print chr$( 


REMEMBER... 
ALWAYS SAVE 
YOUR WORK BEFORE 


aeb8 | 240 a=int ( dl rr 
8154 | 205 b=in 

4395 

c6@e 

9f7Aa 

5ibe 


4e79 


TRING it OUT... 
JUST IN CASE! 


COMMODORE WORLD 46 Issue 9 


How to Type In Program Listings Appearing in 
Commodore World 


While Commodore World currently doesn’t make it a habit of publishing 
type-in programs, a number of our columns do require entering sample 
routines. For this purpose, we have created our CHK-LIST utility for the 
Commodore 64 and 128. This utility uses a 16-bit CRC checksum method 
to verify that you have correctly entered each program line, and that each 
of the characters in the program lines are in the correct order. 

You'll notice that program listings appear with a column of values to the 
left of the program lines. These values are the CHK-LIST values and are not 
to be entered as part of the program. A similar set of values are generated 
by the CHK-LIST utility to allow you to verify that everything has been 
entered correctly. 

Enter the CHK-LIST program from BASIC. You can use either a C-64 or 
aC-128 computer. Ifyou use a C-128, it can be in either 64 or 128 mode. Be 
sure to enter each line carefully to avoid mistakes—until you actually have 
CHK-LIST working, finding errors in program entry won't be easy. After 
you have finished entering the program, be sure to SAVE a copy to disk 
before you attempt to RUNit, just in case. Ifyou aren't familiar with how to 
save a program to disk, you can use the following command: 


SAVE” CHK-LIST”,8 


CHK-LIST 


10 F=ABS (PEEK (65533) =255) :M=49152:IFFTHE 
NM=4864 

C=@: PRINT" {CLR/HOME}WORKING"; 

READD: IFD=-256THEN4® 

C=C+D: IFD<@ANDF=@THEN2® 
IFD<@THEND=@-D:M=M-1 

POKEM, D:M=M+1:PRINT" ."; :GOTO2@ 

PRINT: READCK: IFC<>CKTHENPRINT"ERROR I 
N DATA STATEMENTS!" :;END 

5@ PRINT"DONE.": END 


60 : 

49152 DATA 165,43,-45,133,251,165,44,-46 
» LaS252 

49160 DATA 169,0,141,36,193,-20,169,147, 
32 

49168 DATA 219,255,32,194,192,-19,160,9, 
149 

49176 DATA 37,193,-20,177,251,133,253,20 
8,3 

49184 DATA 238,37,193,-20,200,177,251,13 
3;,:254 

49192 DATA 208,3,238,37,193,-20,173,37,1 
93, -20 


49200 DATA 
49208 DATA 
9,-142,169 
49216 DATA 
255 

49224 DATA 
49232 DATA 
15.32 

4924@ DATA 
32 

49248 DATA 213,192,-19,76,90,192,-19,173 
po91;, 192),.-1L9 

49256 DATA 32,167,192,-19,173,190,192,-1 
9,325 167 


201,2,208,1,96,200,177,251 
170,200,177 ,251,32,205,-50,18 


6,133,211, -236,169,61,32,210, 


169,32; 32,210)255, 160;.2;,,17:7 
29132),.213¢192-19',.200,177,25 


213,192,-19,200,177,251,240,6 


Volume 2, Number 4 


47 


Touse CHK-LIST, load it into your computer and type RUN. Makesure that 
any program youare currently working onis saved first, or start CHK-LIST 
before you begin typing in a new program. After you have CHK-LIST in 
memory and running, type NEW. You may now either load or begin typing 
the program you wish to have CHK-LIST check on, Whenever you want to 
check your program, type in the appropriate SYS command given below: 


C-64 or C-128 in 64 mode: 
C-128 in 128 mode: 


SYS49152 
SYS4864 


Note that when typing in listings, some special characters will appear in 
braces. For example, {CLR/ HOME} means that you should enter the Clear 
key, which is done by holding down the SHIFT key while you press the 
HOME key, Other times you may see a number ahead of the key name, such 
as {3 SPACES} or (5 CRSRL}. This means you should press the key indicated 
the number of times shown. Most special keys are easy to identify, since the 
text shown will generally match the text on the key. Exceptions are the space 
bar {SPACE}, and cursor keys which include directions ({CRSR UP}, {CRSR 
DN}, {CRSRL) and {CRSR RT)). Be sure to use the correct key combinations 
for color keys, such as <CTRL><2> for {WHT}. 


CHK-LIST (cont.) 


49264 DATA 192,-19,169,13,32,210,255,165 
pens 

49272 DATA 
6 

49280 DATA 
,240,3 
49288 DATA 


133,251;165;:254, 133;.252;,238), 3 
193,-20,173,36,193,-20,201,20 
16; 185192 j:-19 1620; 189.2193 
DATA 240,6,32,210,255,232,208,245, 


A 228,255,201,13,208,249,32 
A 228,255,208 251, 76;.8,.192; -19; 


DAT. 
2. DAT. 


DATA 106,106,106,106,32,180,192,-1 


DATA 32,180,192,-19,96,41,15,170,1 
20,193,-20,32,210,255, 96,0,0 
@,%,169,@,141,190,192,-19,141 
191192, -19;.169,.33,141, 192,219 


49344 
49352 
2,- 
49360 DATA 
2 
49368 DATA 
,192,-19 
49376 DATA 
-19,144 
49384 DATA 
,-19,141 
49392 DATA 190,192,-19,173,193,192,-19,7 
7,191,192,-19 

494Q@@ DATA 141,191,192,-19,104,10,202,20 
8,215 
49408 
49416 
49424 
49432 
49440 


16,141,193,192,-19,,96,162,,8,,7 
41,127'.:77,192 P92, -19 142,291 
24,14,190,192,-19,46,191,192, 


18,,:173:,,192),,192, -19,.77, 190) 192 


DATA 
DATA 
DATA 
DATA 


DATA 


96,13,80,82,69,83,83,32 
60,82,69,84,85,82,78,62 
13,13,13,0,48,49,5@,51 
52), 53,54; 55; 56,57 .,,65):66 
7,68,69,70,0,0,-256,37944 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Peripheral Vision 


By fim Butterfield 


ED 


RELATIVE FILE PROGRAMMING. PART TWO 


In our previous episode, we took our first steps in 
relative files. We used direct commands (typed at 
the keyboard); this slowed things down. That 
made it easier to see the steps used in creating a 
relative file and putting data in it. 

The same commands will work in a program, 
but we must be careful: a program can go too fast 
for the disk drive! We should take extra steps to 
pace the computer to the speed at which the disk 
drive can cope. 


Rules So Far... 

During our first session, we gave several rules for 
relative files. There willbe morerulesinamoment, 
but here’s the list so far. 


RULE 1 
The first time a relative file is used, it must be made 
big enough to use more than one data block. A data 
block is 254 characters. 


RULE 2 
Any time you write to a non-existent record, you will 
create that record together with any lower-numbered 
non-existent records. That's how you create the 
first bunch of records in a new file, and that’s how 
you make more if you need them. 


RULE 2a 
Don't be surprised when you get error advice from 
the disk drive when you position to a non-existent 
record. 


RULE 3 
“Empty” records contain a value of CHR$(255). 


COMMODORE WORLD 


That's what the system puts there. If you wantto set 
up a file with “empty” records, it makes sense to use 
the same value. 


RULE 4 
One PRINT# will write exactly one relative file 
record; no more, no less, Forget about sticking 
records together with Basic’s PRINT# semicolon; 
forget about writing two records at a time by 
separating them with a RETURN character. 


Let's add a fifth rule right away: 


RULE 5 
Forget about writing binary zeros to relative files. 
Binary zeros, or CHRS(0), are used by the relative 
file system to pad out empty space at the end of a 
record. 


48 


Quick Review 
Coding was given for both the 64 and the 128. 
The Commodore 64 code, repeated below, works 
on all Commodore 8-bit machines and disks, 
including the 128. 

The first direct command was to open the 
command channel. 

OPEN 15,8,15 

Then the new relative file was opened (and in this 
case, created) with this command: 


1,.8,2, "O:TEST, 


L, "+CHR$ ( 


The length of each record on the file is set as 25 
characters. Then we positioned to non-existent 
record number 12 (we calculated that we needed 
about 12 records minimum to satisfy rule 1). 


"P"+CHRS (2) +CHRS (12 


$(@)+CHRS (1) 


PRINT#15, 


)+CHR 


The drive light blinks, indicating an error. We 
knew that record 12 did not exist; the “wedge” 
confirms this the disk status. We write a “null” 
into record number 12, which creates it (and 
incidentally all the missing records from 1 to 11). 


PRINT#1,CHRS$ (255); 
We are writing an empty record (see rule 3) into 


record 12. The missing records, 1 to 11, will be 
created, 


Issue 9 


After that, we moved to various record positions in the file and wrote 
data there. For example, we went to record 7 with: 


PRINT#15,"P"+CHRS (2) +CHRS (7) +CHRS (@) +CHRS (1) 


..and wrote data there with a following: 
PRINT#1, "LUCKY! "; 
We explored rule 4 by writing to a few selected records: 


PRINT#15, "P"+CHRS (2) +CHRS (2) +CHRS (@) +CHRS (1) 
PRINT#1, “DOUBLE”; 

PRINT#1,"OR NOTHING!" 

PRINT#15, "P"+CHRS (2) +CHRS (9) +CHRS (@) +CHRS (1) 
PRINT#1, "HOT"+CHRS$ (13) +"DOG!"; 


Finally, we closed the file with CLOSE 1, following which we closed the 
command channel with CLOSE 15, 

A brief reading program was supplied. Now we'll write a more detailed 
program to read and write our relative file. 


Re-opening a Relative File 
Once a relative file has been created, you may open it with a simple: 


OPEN 1,8,2,"O0:TEST* 


No need for the “,L,” part, or to specify the record length. If you choose to 
include the length data, you MUST get the length value correct. 


RULE 6 
To open an existing relative file, you don't need to specify the record length; 
if you do so, be sure to get it right. 


Since we cannot do INPUT# with direct statements, we must write a 
program to do this. Start by opening the command channel, then the file. 


10® OPEN 15,8,15 
110 OPEN 1,8,2,"@0:TEST" 


This time, we'll ask the user to type in a record number, following which we 
will show the contents of that record, 


120 INPUT “RECORD NUMBER (@=END) ";R 
130 IF R=® GOTO 50 


Record numbers are sent to the disk drive over the command channel as 
two bytes. So we must split the above value R into two parts, high (R1) and 
low (RO). By the way: always position to the first byte within the record. 


140 R1=INT(R/256) 
15@ R@=R-R1*256 
16@ PRINT#15, "P"+CHRS (2) +CHRS (RO) +CHRS (R1) +CH 


R$ (1) 


There could be an error; we must read the disk status. Time for a new rule. 


Volume 2, Number 4 


49 


RULE 7 
You must read the disk status after a Relative file positioning. 


We didn't follow that rule in part 1. But at that time we were typing direct 
commands at the keyboard. Read on. 


The obvious reason for doing this is to find out the disk status (does the 
record exist, for example?). But there's an even more important reason for 
the status check: it gives the drive time to position the record properly. The 
status response will be delayed if the disk needs to do extra work to position 
to the selected record. 


Vital Delays 

This is important. For full-speed programs, not slowed at all by keyboard 
input, we need to add another rule. Reading data before the buffer is ready 
is deadly; but the real killer is writing data to a buffer that has not finished 
its other work. 

Our first exercise worked at “human” speed. We could never get ahead 
of the drive. Our new program will also be “paced” by the fact that we can’t 
thump in dataat full speed; the keyboard still acts asa brake. But for general 
use, here comes another rule. 


RULE 8 
Except where records are being read in sequence, it’s a goodidea to give each 
positioning command twice, pulling status each time. 


So, optionally in our case, you may add two more lines repeating this last 
activity. 
(2) +CHR$ (RO) +CHRS (R1) +CH 


180 PRINT#15,"P"+CHRS 


The program’s next action is to determine if an error has indeed been 
received; if so, the error is certainly that the record does not exist. If so, the 
program should say it. 

ES : GOTO 300 

If there was no error, we may read the record. INPUT# will do the job. This 
command stops reading data if either: a RETURN character is encountered 
on the file, or an end-of-file condition is seen, But that EOF (end of file) has 
a twist to it: 


RULE 9 
EOF (End-Of-File) is signaled at the end of every record. EOF is in ST, the 
Status variable. 


In other words, if we DON'T see a value of 64 in ST after a read, we know 
there is more data within the same record, In contrast to other types of file, 
ST does NOT indicate end of file, despite the EOF designation. (How do you 
find the end ofa relative file? By positioning toa record and getting a DOES 
NOT EXIST response). 

We'll use some fancy code to show multiple fields in a record, ifany. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


DIRECTORY DATA FILE BLOCKS 


SIDE SIDE 
SECTOR SECTOR 


Figure 1. Any time a relative file is open, three buffers are active in the disk drive RAM: two 
for the data, and one for the indexing “side sector’. A record might lie across (or span) two 
data blocks. It's important to realize that after a write operation, up to three blocks must be 
written by the operating system to the diskette. 


210 M=0 complexities of multiple fields. We'll just ask for a chunk of data and store 
220 J=0 it into the record. 
23@ INPUT#1,X$ 
240 IF ST=® THEN M=1 35 
25@ PRINT "RECORD";R; 36@ PRINT 
260 IF M=1 THEN J=J+1:PRINT "FIELD";J; 37 
270 IF X$=CHR$(255) THEN X$=" <EMPTY> " 
280 PRINT ":";X$ The wrap-up code is simple. Just close the file. 
29@ IF ST=@ GOTO 230 

5@® CLOSE 1 


Reading and Writing 510 CLOSE 15 

Now that we have positioned to the requested record (whether it exists or 

not), we can ask the user if a write is desired. Rules for Speed 

Theabove program will work satisfactorily, but it still doesn't goat maximum 

300 WS="N" speed. Each activity is slowed by the fact that it calls for human input. 
310 INPUT “WRITE TO THIS RECORD";WS Many programs bang away at full speed, reading and writing relative file 
320 IF WS<>"Y" AND WS$<>"YES" GOTO 120 records at high rates. For these, we must add extra rules to make sure that 
330 PRINT#15, "P"+CHR$ (2) +CHRS$ (RO) +CHR$(R1)+CH the data is safe. 
R$ (1) Why the extras? They are there mostly because relative files are complex, 
34@ INPUTH15,E, ES and the disk drive needs to handle them with great care. A relative file uses 


three buffers: two for data (remember that a relative record might “span” 
If the record does not yet exist, we'll get an error signal once again; but we across two disk sectors), anda third for the “side sector” index. (Have a look 
pull status mainly as a brake. For writing data, we won't bother with the _ at Figure 1 for a visual representation of this). 


DIATTIA! ICTHIAIRIAICITIETRISTO[Oofo[ofojo} 


Figure 2. Each record of a relative file consists of a fixed number of characters (22 in this 
illustration). If the record doesn't need all the space, the remainder is filled with binary zeros. 
Thus, the actual data in record 4 is only 15 characters, with seven binary zeros occupying the 
remaining space. 


COMMODORE WORLD 50 Issue 9 


If a program has just written a record and now wants to move to a 
different one, alot of work must take place within the drive. First, the record 
we have just “written” has not yet been put on the disk; it’s still in RAM 
buffers. So the drive needs to write up to three blocks before it can shift its 
pointers and look for the different record. 

Rules 7 and 8, shown above, call for reading status twice whenever a 
program wishes to position to a new record, That covers most reading 
problems. When we write records, we add new protective rules. 


RULE 10 
Unless records are being written in strict consecutive order, it's a good idea 
to follow any record writing action with a command to position to record 1. 


Such a “backward” positioning forces a write to disk, which is an extra 
safety measure. We could add this step to the program above with the lines: 


370 INPUT#15,E,E$ 


380 PRINT#15,"P"+CHRS (2) +CHRS$ (1) +CHRS (@) +CHRS 
(1) 

390 INPUT#15,E,ES 

40® GOTO 120 


The status variables E and E$ could of course be tested to see if any errors 
were reported. Remember that reading the status is there partly to restrain 
the speed of disk activity. 

One final precaution can be taken for maximum data security. After a 
record is written you could close the file; this would force all disk sectors to 
be written. The file can be opened again right away, of course. This is quite 
slow, but it can provide assurance that the file has been written properly. 


RULE 11 
Unless records are being written in strict consecutive order, you can get 
maximum security after writing a record by closing the file. 


This extra security could be added to the program above by coding: 
37@ INPUT#15,5E,E$ 
38@ CLOSE 1 
390 OPEN 1,8,2,"0:TEST" 


40® GOTO 120 


Some Final Comments 


RULE 12 
When reading or writing records in strict sequence, you may ignore rules 8, 10, 
and 11. 


If you are skimming through a relative file to build an index, or perhaps 
copying data into a new relative file, this rule can save you a lot of time. 
Records handled in sequence will always be properly handled by the disk 
drive. 


RULE 13 
Even though the last character of a “position” command seems to suggest you 
can write part of a record, don't. Write the whole record, all fields, as one shot. 


I'm not sure why it is, but writing a “partial” record always causes a mess. 


<i 


Volume 2, Number 4 51 


Is your Commodore World subscription close to running out? 


There's an easy way to check. Look at the mailing label on the front of 
your copy. You'll find your subscription number and the expiration 
issue number. For example: 


James Smith 
123 Home Street 
Grand Rapids, MI 


12345EXP09 
49502-0123 


Jim’s subscription will run out with issue 9, as indicated by the EXPO9 in his 
subscription code, Jim would be wise to re-subscribe early to avoid missing a 
single issue of Commodore World! 


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COMMODORE WORLD 


Carrier Detect 


By Gaclyne R. Moranec 


LONG DISTANCE RUN-AROUND... 


Getting connected with your modem can be 
especially challenging ifyou live ina rural area, as 
often there aren’t any Bulletin boards or local 
access numbers for the online services. The first 
question you might wonder is, “How do I find 
numbers that | can call with my modem?”. That 
may well be followed by, “I'm not going to go 
broke calling long distance, am I?” If this is your 
situation, you may find you will need to dial long 
distance to connect anywhere. A very long time 


ago (before I knew better) I scoffed at the idea of 


ever dialing long distance with my modem. I've 
since learned that there are times when the 
benefits outweigh the cost. There are ways to 
keep the costs down, however. 


Finding BBS and Online Service 
Numbers 

Usually your local users group will have a 
newsletter which might list local bulletin board 
phone numbers, or you can find BBS numbers in 
magazines such as this one—I counted 5 in Issue 
#6 without even looking very hard at all. There 
are magazines which cater to BBSing, suchas BBS 
Magazine or Boardwatch that also supply BBS 
phone numbers. Once you find one or two 
numbers you can usually find more, as many 
bulletin boards themselves list other BBS phone 


numbers. Yetanother often overlooked source of 


information, is the local computer repair shops. 
True, they may not service Commodore 
computers, but they may know ofarea BBS phone 
numbers. You can call just about any type of BBS 
or Online service whether it's run on a 
Commodore, PC, MAC, Amiga, or mainframe 
with the exception of those which use graphic 
interfaces, such as America OnLine (AOL) or 
Prodigy. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Ifyou are looking into connecting to an online 
service, most offer an “800” number to dial with 
your modem so that you can start up with the 


service, Once you've setup with it, you are usually 
given the phone numbers you can dial which are 
in your area code, You can also dial the “800” 
customer (voice) number for most places to learn 
about local access numbers or possible 
alternatives ifyou live ina rural area. Speaking of 
“800" numbers, there ARE bulletin boards and 
online services that offer this as a feature to use, 
but youare billed extra for it every time you use it. 
Compare the costs with dialing a long distance 
access number so you can determine if you are 
saving or losing money by using such this type of 
feature, 

Some ofthe latest PC BBS software have options 
which allow users to connect to the Internet via 
the BBS, The advantage is the ability to combine 
regular BBS usage (such as games or use of QWK 
mail doors for offline mail reading) with the ability 
toaccess Internet features such as Telnet, WWW 
or FTP. The disadvantage is that these are usually 


52 


not free bulletin boards, You are either charged 
by the hour or are charged a set amount each 
month and then allowed a specific amount of 
time to use the service each month. 


Long Distance With No Run 
Around...? 

Remember the old “gas wars” where every gas 
station seemed to compete against each other, 
lowering their prices and offering incentives to 
frequent customers? I too, wish those days would 
return... but in the meantime, if you happen to 
own a television and have it on once in awhile, 
you might have noticed that the various long 
distance phone companies are in fierce 
competition. I don’t and can’t recommend any 
one service. What I do recommend however, is 
that just as you would with any other item that 
you choose to purchase such as a modem, check 
out all of what's currently available and then 
compare the options while keeping your actual 
phone usage in mind. 

Comparing long distance phone services is not 
always easy. Some companies bill by the minute 
(AT&T, Sprint, MCI and others) while others bill 
by a set number of seconds (usually 6, but it 
varies). This makes it difficult to compare, and in 
some ways easier fora company to make it sound 
like they can save you more than the others. Use 
a calculator if necessary to find out what you 
would be billed per minute for comparison 
purposes. Also keep in mind when you phone the 
various LD carriers that their “customer 
representatives” are first and foremost 
salespeople, It is their job to convince you that 
their particular service is better than the others. 
In researching this article I also found that some 
use the “STANDARD” rates of the competition 


Issue 9 


to compare to the "ECONOMY" rates they offer. 
Pay attention and buy nothing until you have the 
statistics from all the services before making a 
choice. Of special interest, if you ask about a 
service you know the carrier offers, but are instead 
told about another “newer” “better” (etc) offer 
stick to your original intent and find out the 
actual rates for what you asked about, then listen 
tothe spiel on the “newer” “better” offer. [t can be 
eye-opening. Alllong distance carriers offer some 
kind of special offer or plan, and it pays to know 
what each one is all about. 

AT&T has a plan called “Reach Out America” 
in which you are “pre-billed” at a set rate for an 
hour ormore (depending on what you request) of 
long distance service per month. Since you are 
pre-billed, you have already paid for the long 
distance before you use it, up to the amount of 
time you've been billed for, so ifyou don't use this 
time it’s money wasted. It can be very economical 
if you do use this time but don’t go over the time 
you've already paid for (as then you are billed at 
a higher rate). It’s designed for calls only within 
the United States, but they do have have a Reach 
Out World calling plan also. The latest special 
from AT&T, “True USA” which gives a 25% 
discount on all calls ifyou happen to spend from 
$10-30 in a month, and raise the percentage if 
you spend $50 or more. This sounds good in 
theory, but the catch is finding out what the 
actual rate you are being billed at before the 
discount and then figuring the rate with the 
discount so you can compare the rates you are 
charged with other LD carriers, 

MCI now offers “PC Connect”, which is tied in 
with their new “Friends and Family II” service. 
Essentially you sign up and tell them what BBS, 
online service numbers, or other (voice) long 
distance numbers you you intend to call on a 
regular basis, and they offer 14 cents per minute 
daytime rates down to a low of 7.5 cents per 
minute for late night and weekend calls to these 
numbers. 

Inconjunction with this, MCI offers BBS sysops 
adeal that ifthe BBS has an advertisement for the 
PC Connect, giving a unique code number for 
that particular bulletin board and you give this 
code when signing up, the Sysop of the BBS 
receives $5 off their bill, per each person who 
signs up with their code. Any place you call which 
is connected with MCI earns an additional 
discount. The PC Connect plan from MCI allow 
up to two International phone numbers, with a 
slightly higher rate per minute. 

Thereissome fine print to this, however. These 
rates are not permanent. These rates are in effect 
for only the first six months youare enrolled with 
the plan. After that it drops to 25%, which means 


Volume 2, Number 4 


the rates given above go up by 50% after six 
months, 

Sprint has a plan called “Most” which gives 
you 50% off two long distance numbers you've 
phoned the most during the month. If you are 


only phoning one or two long distance numbers 
ina month this can add up to a nice savings, but 
even this has some caveats. For instance, you 


receive this rate of 50% off for only four months. 
After that, it goes down to 25% each month. 
Other bonuses are offered at that time to keep 
your service with them. Another consideration is 
the actual discount is commensurate with your 
usage, which means that if you phone only one 
BBS long distance a couple times a week with a 
high speed modem to download a mail packet, 
the savings might not be all that great in 
comparison with other plans. 

However, ifyou have to phone long distance to 
connect to an online service and this is the only 
long distance service you phone, the savings may 
well be far greater than what you would get from 
other services. Sprint's latest plan is “Sense” which 
is only for calls within the USA, It gives 10 cents 
per minute from 7pm to 6:59am week nights and 
weekends. 

There are smaller LD carriers that allow you to 
keep your present long distance carrier and access 


53 


them by dialing a special number before you dial 
the actual phone number, These companies offer 
discounts at specific times and/or discounts for 
calling a specific number of miles away. One such 
company offers the “service” of monitoring your 
calls and then checking the rates between all the 
available LD carriers in the area and then billing 
youat the least expensive rate. This type of service 
may be useful, but the trick is to REMEMBER to 
dial the number for this service before making 
your call. 

Other Hints and Tips... 

Keep in mind that sometimes calling out of state 
can cost less than if you call within your state or 
area code. “Closer” doesn’t always mean 
“cheaper” when it comes to long distance. 

Find out when the “cheap” or economy rates 
are in effect for each long distance carrier, as 
these are not always standard times, Some start 
or end an hour before or after others do. For 
instance, One company may start their weekend 
discount ratesat 11pm on Fridays while another's 
weekend discount rates begin at 12:01am on 
Saturdays and end at 5pm Sunday. If you are 
phoning internationally (yes, some people really 
do this, I'm one of them), find out the discounted 
times for the country you call for EACH long 
distance service, as they are notall the same. One 
company may have the most expensive rates for 
a time period that many of the other companies 
offer their best discount rate, and if you don't 
know this time slot it can be expensive. 

This brings me to another point. Your phone 
bill. You don’t have to blindly accept what it says, 
especially ifit doesn't seem correct. Mistakes can 
and do happen, and the long distance carriers are 
in such fierce competition that if you are savvy 
enough to point out their errors (or at least 
question what doesn’t seem right), that they do 
refund for incorrect billing or mistakes made by 
their service representatives when signing you up 
as a subscriber. 

In the last six months, I’ve had over $300 
refunded back to me due to errors the LD carriers 
have made on my bills. The first was because the 
company’s representatives neglected to tell me 
the correct time slots for the best discounts and I 
had been under the assumption that it was the 
same as other services. | argued that if had been 
told these time periods, | surely would have 
phoned during those times. Iwon the argument— 
retroactively to my first bill with the carrier. The 
second time I received a refund was because my 
list of MCI PC Connect phone numbers was 
incorrect in MCI's database, the last digit had 
been left off ofa few of the numbers and because 
of this my bill didn’t reflect any discounts for 


COMMODORE WORLD 


these numbers, which happened to be the ones | 
phoned most often. MCI also gave me a refund, 
retroactive to when I began to use their service. In 
both instances | didn’t have to go through any 
major hassles, allit took was a phone call with my 
bill in hand for reference. 

Youmight have noticed that I mentioned using 
more than one LD carrier. There’s no rule that 
says you have to stick with the same company and 
often times it makes good sense to check out what 
the others have to offer. Most carriers will senda 
“check” good only for the local phone company 
to cover the cost of switching your service, and 
many times, due to stiff competition, they offer 
other incentives such as $20-$40 off your phone 
bill for the first month. It can actually pay to 
switch with some of these offers, but you really 
have to find out the details. One company may 
send a “check” for the local phone company for 
the entire amount, another might prove more 
annoying by sending several of these with dates 
on them that are only good for a specific month 
and it’s up to you not to misplace them and to 
remember send them in with your bill during the 
appropriate month. 


Really Off the Wall Stuff... 

Recently various newsgroups ofthe Internet have 
been hit with various phone “spams”. These are 
not necessarily “scams”, per se, but they are 
annoying. On the Internet, a “spam” is where 
many newsgroups are bombarded with an 
advertisement or otherwise inappropriate 
message for the type of discussion of the 
newsgroup. They are very much frowned uponas 
they waste a great deal of money for everyone. 
The phone spams generally offer high discounts 
for phoning long distance or internationally. 

Many will require pre-payment, which 
personally, | would be very leery of, as the pre- 
payment is usually a much higher sum than my 
phone bills. Before signing up for such a plan I 
would check with the Chamber of Commerce 
nearest to the company, as well as the Attorney 
General for the state in which the company does 
business, 

Although it’s not something that can be used 
(yet) in telecommunications, something you will 
likely be seeing in the near future are “Phone 
Cards”. These are not the same as the “credit 
card” style cards the long distance carriers have 
been mailing out over the last few years. Instead, 
Phone Cardsare essentially pre-paid long distance 
phone calls which are bought in varying amounts 
($5, $10, or $20) and are used in pay phones 
designed for their use. A display on the pay phone 
shows how much money you have used from the 
card and how much you have left available on it. 


COMMODORE WORLD 


In other countries these cards are sold in gas 
stations and discount stores. 

As mentioned above, there are some carriers 
that allow you to keep your present long distance 
carrier, but offer discounts if you dial their “code” 
before you place your actual phone call. This nice 
with a phone that has memory—the type that 
allows you to pre-program the phone's buttons 
and then dial numbers by pressing a button. But 
you really don’t need to buy a phonelike this. You 
can use your Commodore, modem and term 
program for this “feature”. 

Simply have a separate phonebook in your 
term program for your voice phone numbers 
(local or long distance) and let the modem dial 
the phone for you. To dial out, let the modem dial 
the number, then when you hear a ring, pick up 
the handset of your telephone and press the 
appropriate key on the computer (depending on 
the term program) to stop the dialing process. 
This is also great for calling places that are 
constantly busy (such as call-in radio contests) 
since the modem can redial the number faster 
than you can manually, 


Call-waiting, the service which gives youa beep 
to tell you that you have another call coming in, is 
not something you want or need when you are 
modeming as it causes your modem to become 
confused and drop carrier. There are two ways to 
temporarily disable this feature from within your 
term program, depending on the program you 
are using. The EASIEST method is if the term 
program has the option which lets you define a 
“Dial String”. Normally this would be “ATDT"” 
for touch tone phones, or “ATDP” for pulse or 
rotary style phone lines. If want call waiting 
disabled for each call, find this option in your 


54 


term program and changeit to“ATDT*70WDT" 
for touch tone phones, or “ATDP1170WDP" for 
pulse style. This tells the modem to first dial the 
code to disable call waiting (*70 or 1170), wait for 
a dial tone, and then start dialing the number in 
the phonebook entry. Ifthe term program doesn't 
have this option, then you will need to add 
“*70WDT" or “LI7OWDT" in your phonebook 
before each phone number. It would look like 
“*70WDT555-1212" in your phone book. 

If you find yourself doing a lot of modeming, 
getting complaints from family, relatives or 
employers about your phone being busy 
constantly, or much much worse, agonizing that 
youcan't call your usual haunts with yourmodem 
because you're waiting fora phone call, or have to 
wait for someone to get off the phone so you can 
use it, consider getting a second phone line. The 
cost ofa second phone line in comparison to the 
cost of the aggravations mentioned above may 
well prove worthit, depending on yourmodeming 
habits. Second phone lines (often called “Data” 
lines when you havea modem connected toit and 
use it only for telecommunications) can be quite 
convenient you can even can 
order a pizza on the voice line 
while modemingon the other! 


Wrap Up... 

The long distance carriers 
change their plans frequently. 
Even more confusing is when 
they keep similar names but 
change the rates and 
discounts offered. Along with 
these changes, over time your 
phone and modem usage can 
change. Ifyou're tryingtokeep 
your costs down, be sure to 
shoparoundand compare the 
rates of other long distance 
carriers every once in awhile. 
It used to be that like the 
electric company, you only 
had one phone company and 
that was the only one available to you. Many 
people get stuck in the mindset that once they 
have a long distance carrier, they should keep it. 
Many of the larger companies are counting on 
this mindset from you the consumer, and hoping 
that you'll stick with them once you've signed on, 
out of “brand” loyalty. From what I've found, the 
longer you're a customer of only one service, the 
less discounts you receive over all, It is certainly 
not a case where the longer you keep a service the 
better your discounts are. Shop around and find 
what works for you. 


$) 


Issue 9 


Over The kdge 


Okay, okay, I'll admit that lam hooked. But lam 
not the only computer user whois addicted to my 
modem. Ever since | purchased my Aprotek 
Minimodem-C and went on line about six years 
ago, I haven't been able to keep from 
telecommunicating with my computer. Nothing 
could keep me away from those long gone exotic 
Commodore boards like “Iron Tower,” 
“Enchanted Mountain,” “64th Precinct,” 
“Stairway to Heaven” and “Asgard” that used to 
be in the Columbus, Ohio, area. Just about every 
other computer user around here and I cut our 
modeming teeth on these Image and Color 64 
boards before going on to the bigger IBM boards 
and national ones like GEnie, Delphi and 
Compuserve. 

For a long time I debated between joining 
Quantum Link or Compuserve. | settled on Q- 
Link as it fit my budget and it was specifically 
created for Commodore computers. Besides, | 
had two Q-Link logon disks on hand; one that 
came with my computer and the other with 
version 2.0 of GEOS I had purchased. 

I primarily used Q-Link to download software 
with my free hour, staying away from the People 
Connection after hearing horror stories that you 
can very easily rack up big bills talking to others 
foralong time. Ifthe amount oftime I spend each 
week posting on the local BBS is an indication of 
how long I would possibly be on Q-Link’s People 
Connection, | would probably go bankrupt. 

Of course, | am beginning to see that happen 
now whenever | get on the Commodore Round 
Table Conference on GEnie, and my monthly bill 
becomes more than the $8.95 for my four free 
hours. But it’s easy to get hooked, particularly 
when youare yakking away on the keyboard with 
your fingers chatting with other Commodore 
users, 

At first I used to be on the modem for about 
three to four hours per night, three to four nights 
aweek. This really irritated my wife, particularly 
when she tried calling home from work and 
couldn't get through in the evenings. So, she 


Volume 2, Number 4 


by Harold Stevens, Jr. 


QO 


placed a time limit of one hour per evening or she 
would confiscate my modem. 

Reluctantly I agreed, but only after she made 
the point that if she or somebody else had to 
reach me in an emergency, they wouldn't get a 
hold of me because I had the phone line tied up. 
So, | began to curb my modeming addiction in 
the evening, going along with the time limit and 
started making my computer calls early in the 
morning. And guess what? I found that I could 
get on the boards a lot easier between 6-10 a.m., 
as most of the usual modemers and hackers were 
still in bed asleep. 

Next came the demise of the Commodore 
boards locally, which fell to the wayside as their 
sysops abandoned the Commodore 64/128 
computers, moving on to either Amigas or IBM 
clones. Some of those who went to IBM-clones 
restarted their boards again under the same 
names, while the others suffered sysop burnout 
and dropped out from the BBS world altogether. 

Soon after becoming an expert at using Color 
64 and Image, I had to learn how to adapt to the 
new IBM-clone boards. Even the Punter 64 
system that the user group (which I wasa member 
of originally) started out on its BBS which gave 
way to the computer evolution and became a 
Punter PC board. The transition to the IBM 
boards, however, was not hard. Many of them 
use the same type of sub-board command codes 
found on many of the ASCII type non-IBM 


55 


boards, such as those on Atari, Apple and other 
Commodore boards. 

Quickly [learned these IBM editing commands 
and became as adept as those who have been 
doing the PC scene for a long time. My only 
limitations were those imposed by the term 
program that I was using. But that didn’t matter, 
as I was still having fun posting my usual remarks 
and comments for all to read. 

Seeing these Commodore specific boards fall 
to the wayside didn’t really bother me at first. 
Afterall, [still had Q-Link. Yeah, right. As soon as 
I muttered this, all the signs were being posted on 
the wall that Quantum Computer Services was 
slowly packing upits Commodore toys and getting 
ready to leave as well. 

I had the feeling that when RUN magazine 
folded and its software had started to disappear 
from Q-Link that something was afoot. Then we 
watched Commodore Business Machine slip out 
the back door, finally letting us C-64/128 users 
know that we weren't wanted by them anymore. 
The next blow came in January 1993 when Q- 
Link would not validate the new software being 
uploaded by its members. The knockout punch 
came a couple of months later when geoWorks 
(formerly knownas Berkeley Softworks) withdrew 
its support and the GEOS section of Q-Link 
disappeared. 

That was when | finally got fed up with Q-Link 
and placed the phone call to tell them to take a 
hike. A couple of weeks later | got this nice little 
form letter from Steve Case, the head of Quantum 
Computer Services, inviting me to come back to 
their fold over at America Online. Of course, this 
meant I would have to go out and buy an IBM 
clone or an Apple Macintosh first. Sorry, Stevie, 
no can do. I'm not going to buy a new computer 
just so you can line your pockets with my cash. 

What I did instead was to look at GEnie and 
Delphi. While Delphi looked good with its offer 
ofmore time for the dollar and access to Internet, 
I went with GEnie due to the fact that its 


(continued on page 56) 


COMMODORE WORLD 


Over the Edge (continued from previous page) 


Commodore section was bigger and the big names of the C-64 universe 
hung out there. Compuserve was still out of the question due to the fact that 
it cost too much for my budget. 

Once I signed on to GEnie, | was in seventh heaven again. Here | found 
lots of public domain and shareware software that should have been on Q- 
Link in the last year that I was there. Not only that, but I discovered that 
many of the Commodore users had “defected” there as well, and the 
support for the C-64/128 was very well established with people that I 
already knew from Q-Link. People like Steve Vander Ark, Maurice Randall, 
Doug Cotton and a few others. 

On top of that, GEnie also had other areas that I was interested in such 
as the conferences on photography, journalism, scale model building and 
Star Trek. I can’t recall ever seeing such professional and hobby topics on 
Q-Link. Modeming became both fun and useful once again. 

Ofcourse, locally, it’s a different story. While I miss having Commodore 
bulletin boards around, I still enjoy the IBM boards that am on. A couple 
of them do have Commodore software on file for downloading, while 
others have Commodore conferences in their message subs linked to other 
systems via networks. 

But more importantly, my old modem buddies are still around and we 
continue to enjoy each others company despite what kind of computers we 
own. And that’s what modeming is all about. 
©) 


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Issue 9 


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fa Our In-depth look into selectin: 
infor and using printers and printer: Fae 


Advanced Techniques 
@ geoProgrammist 
: @ Carrier Detect 


CALUICMD) 


10) SUDSCTIDE: 


Commodore World is the publication 
that will keep you informed in these times 
when up-to-date information on 
Commodore computing is so hard to find. 
Published by Creative Micro Designs, the 
industry leader in development of 
Commodore-related products for over six 
years, Commodore World will supply you 
with information on what's new, what's still 
available, and above all else—where to 
get it. If you felt you had nowhere to turn 
to for Commodore support, turn to the 
pages of Commodore World for a wealth 
of resources ready to help you get the 
most from your computer! 

You'll find Commodore World feature 
articles informative and easy to read; 
what's more, they're written by leading 
authorities and experts, many of whom 
have written for other Commodore-related 
publications in the past. And Commodore 
World has something for everyone, 
whether you're a novice or an experienced 
programmer. 


$ 
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And while our feature articles help to 
cover different subjects in each issue, 
regular columns provide on-going insight 
into topics of interest to most users. You'll 
find columns that cover BASIC and 
advanced programming, and even a 
column for GEOS programming. And if you 
prefer being a GEOS user to being a 
GEOS programmer, you'll find another 
column devoted to helping you get more 
out of GEOS. If you want to learn more 
about using and programming the various 
peripherals on your system—you guessed 
it, we've got a column for that as well. Even 
first-time Commodore users will find a 
column devoted specifically to their needs. 

And there's even more. Departments 
that cover news, telecommunications, 
reviews of available hardware and 
software; even news of what's happening 
in other Commodore-related publications! 

So, if you really want to get the most 
from your Commodore, there's no better 
way to get it than Commodore World! 


YY ea” fF ert Ss, sg 


Columns 
dust For Starters - An introduction to the C64/ 
128 by Steve VanderArk 

Forelgn Exchange - An inside look at the market 
in Europe by Joseph Gaudl 

Graphic Interpretation - GEOS, GEOS and more 
GEOS by Steve VanderArk 

geoProgrammist - GEOS programming 
techniques by Maurice Randall 

BASIC Instincts - BASIC tutorials and type-in 
programs by Gene Barker 

dim Butterfield's ML Column - Probably the best 
known name in our industry, Jim covers every 
aspect of programming in ML (coming soon) 
Peripheral Vision - Technical insights to C-64/128 
hardware peripherals 

Carrier Detect - Exploring every facet of the 
Telecommunications experience 

Over The Edge - Editorial covering various 
computer related topics and news 


Departments 


From The Editor * BackTalk * On The Horizon 
dust Asking * The Connection * Top Tips 
User Group Connection * Commodore Trivia 
BBS Spotlight * Classified Ads 


| 
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LIONS OF oboe UN VERS 


Things have been quiet in the Omacron sector for a suspiciously long time-until NOW! Lead the battle 
against the hoards of marauding invaders in the corridors of death. Face the awesome Mega Guardians 
who are all too eager to put an end to your pitiful existance. Whatever you do, strap on your seat-belt... 


..you're in for the battle of your life! 
By Ve | a8 


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ENTERTAINMENT SCE TWARE 


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